Abstract:

The increasing integration of AI-driven conversational agents into career counseling contexts raises important questions regarding their visual design and users’ acceptance. This study investigates how different levels of avatar realism influence perceived usability and user attitudes in a career-assessment scenario. Specifically, we compared a stylized, cartoon-like AI avatar with a highly realistic AI avatar intended to guide users through a conversational skill-profiling process. In a quantitative, within-subjects study with 93 participants, we evaluated perceived visual quality, likability, credibility, and overall acceptance of the two avatar designs. The Results show a clear preference for the realistic avatar. Participants rated the realistic avatar significantly higher in perceived visual fidelity and reported stronger feelings of sympathy and trust toward it compared with the stylized version. Acceptance scores also favored the realistic avatar, suggesting that a lifelike representation is more suitable for sensitive guidance tasks such as career counseling. These findings contrast with common assumptions that stylization might reduce user expectations or mitigate uncanny-valley effects; instead, participants responded more positively to realism when the context required credibility and personal relevance. Our results highlight the importance of avatar design choices in AI-supported counseling systems and suggest that realistic representations may enhance user engagement and trust in career-related interactions.

Keywords:

Avatar Realism, Career Counseling, Conversational Agents, Human–AI Interaction, User Acceptance.