Sociotechnical imaginaries of the museum: Conversational agents and visitor engagement

Technology, such as conversational agents, can both reflect and advance collectively held visions of desired futures. Understanding how conversational agents are used in museums reveals how these technologies are imbued with certain ideals and uphold and advance desired digital futures for visitor engagement and the museum. This chapter discusses how opportunities for visitor engagement with conversational agents in museums have evolved from 1996 to 2023, drawing on 75 publicised examples. Three preliminary trends are discussed: (1) diversified opportunities for visitor choice and control; (2) for immersion; and (3) for social connection and relationality. These trends and the increasing significance of anthropomorphism across them, reflect imagined futures for visitor engagement that privilege personalised and immersive experiences, and social connections, particularly between the museum and its visitors. The ‘liveliness’ of the museum as an actor in this relation also speaks to broader sociotechnical imaginaries of the museum and memory work.