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26 Socially Intelligent Agentsfrom the user’s perspective simulating the neuron level of intelligence is simplynot relevant. In the same spirit, researchers in sociology may explain people’sintelligent behaviour in terms of economical, social and ideological structures,but since these theories are not (yet) folk-theories in our sense of the term, theymay not contribute very much to user-centred SIA research. Again, since thefocus lies on folk-theories, some scholarly and scientific theories will not bevery useful. In this sense, constructivist SIA research adopts a sort of ’blackbox’design approach, allowing tricks and shortcuts as long as they create ameaningful and coherent experience of social intelligence in the user.This does not mean that the constructivist approach is only centred on surfacephenomena, or that apparent intelligence is easy to accomplish. On thecontrary, creating an apparently intelligent creature, which meets the user’sfolk-theoretical expectations and still manages to be deeply interactive, seemsto involve high and yet unresolved complexity. It is precisely the interactiveaspect of intelligence that makes it such a difficult task. When designing intelligentcharacters in cinema, for instance, the filmmakers can determine thesituation in which a given behaviour occurs (and thus make it more meaningful)because of the non-interactive nature of the medium. In SIA applications, thedesigner must foresee an almost infinitive number of interactions from the user,all of which must generate a meaningful and understandable response form thesystem’s part. Thus, interactivity is the real ’litmus test’ for socially intelligentagent technology.Designing SIA in the user centred way proposed here is to design socialintelligence, rather than just intelligence. Making oneself appear intelligible toone’s context is an inherently social task requiring one to follow the implicitand tacit folk-theories regulating the everyday social world.References[1] An Experimental Study of Apparent Behavior. F. Heider and M. Simmel. AmericanJournal of Psychology, 57:243–259, 1944.[2] Andrew Whiten. Natural Theories of Mind. Evolution, Development and Simulation ofEveryday Mindreading. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1991.[3] Aronson. The Social Animal, Fifth Edition. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, 1988.[4] B. L. Omdahl. Cognitive Appraisal, Emotion, and Empathy. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,Hillsdale, New Jersey, 1995.[5] B. Reeves and C. Nass. The Media Equation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,England, 1996.[6] C. Pelachaud and N. I. Badler and M.Steedman. Generating Facial Expression for Speech.Cognitive Science, 20:1–46, 1996.[7] Chris Kleinke. Gaze and Eye Contact: A Research Review. Psychological Bulletin,100:78–100, 1986.[8] D.C.Dennett. The intentional stance. M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1987.