Conversational Agents (CAs) have increasingly been integrated into everyday
life, sparking significant discussions on social media. While previous research
has examined public perceptions of AI in general, there is a notable lack in
research focused on CAs, with fewer investigations into cultural variations in
CA perceptions. To address this gap, this study used computational methods to
analyze about one million social media discussions surrounding CAs and compared
people's discourses and perceptions of CAs in the US and China. We find Chinese
participants tended to view CAs hedonically, perceived voice-based and
physically embodied CAs as warmer and more competent, and generally expressed
positive emotions. In contrast, US participants saw CAs more functionally, with
an ambivalent attitude. Warm perception was a key driver of positive emotions
toward CAs in both countries. We discussed practical implications for designing
contextually sensitive and user-centric CAs to resonate with various users'
preferences and needs.

中国参与者在社交媒体上将对话代理视为享乐，并认为基于语音和实体化的对话代理更温暖、更有能力，表达了积极的情绪。与此相反，美国参与者对对话代理的功能更为关注，态度矛盾。温暖的感知是两个国家积极情绪的关键驱动因素。针对不同用户喜好和需求，我们讨论了设计上具有情境敏感性和用户为中心的对话代理的实际意义。