Human-Centered AI

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11 papers in the last four weeks, up 83% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

Jul 13Week of Sep 28

Latest papers 108

Jul 17, 2026cs.CY

How Formerly Incarcerated People Envision Technologies for Prison Parole

AI-driven algorithms and automated tools are increasingly embedded in the correctional landscape, shaping parole eligibility,release decisions, and surveillance. These tools are also often framed as objective, inevitable solutions to inefficiency andbias. Yet, these computational systems are rarely designed with input from justice-impacted individuals, which means theymight fail to address the real needs of incarcerated people. To address this gap, we surveyed 31 formerly incarcerated peopleabout their parole experiences and their visions for technologies that could support parole preparation. Contrary to dominantassumptions, participants did not imagine computational tools as instruments to dismantle the prison system, but as resourcesfor navigating power: translating complex parole concepts into culturally familiar terms, documenting personal transformationin board-legible ways, and recognizing the often-invisible labor of families. We argue that these imaginaries point towardtechnologies designed for strategic agency, where tools help incarcerated individuals and their families build the capacity tonavigate existing power structures in pursuit of freedom. We conclude by reframing computational tools for parole awayfrom surveillance and toward human-centered systems that support people in navigating carceral power structures.

Saiph Savage, Jesse Nava, Wanqing Iris Zhou +1

Northeastern University, USA · San Diego State University (SDSU), USA · Brandeis University, USA

AI-Assisted Decision Making Human-Centered AI

Jul 13, 2026cs.CL

Introducing Human-Centeredness in AI-Assisted Lexicography

This paper proposes a human-centered artificial intelligence (HCAI) framework for AI-assisted lexicography. While generative AI offers significant opportunities to enhance lexicographic work, it also raises concerns regarding the future role of lexicographers and the preservation of linguistic and cultural diversity. Drawing on HCAI principles and previous applications in other language professions, the paper identifies four interrelated dimensions through which AI integration in lexicography can be understood and critically examined: the augmented lexicographer, the sociotechnical context of AI integration, bias, and the design of AI-powered lexicographic tools. The framework argues that AI should augment rather than replace lexicographers, combining automation with meaningful human control. It further emphasizes the importance of preserving professional agency, mitigating AI-generated biases, and designing tools around the needs of lexicographers. By doing so, the paper provides a foundation for future research and the beneficial integration of AI into lexicographic workflows.

Antonio San Martin, Catherine Trekker

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Human-Centered AI Human Oversight of AI Human-AI Collaboration

Jul 11, 2026cs.AI

Comparing Socio-technical Design Principles with Guidelines for Human-centered AI

Human-centered AI (HCAI) refers to guidelines or principles that aim on ethi-cally oriented design of systems. We compare HCAI- guidelines with princi-ples of socio-technical systems that emerged in the context of conventional in-formation technology. The comparison leads to a revision of socio-technical heuristics by including aspects of AI-usage. The comparison reveals that con-tinuous evolution is a basic characteristic of socio-technical systems, and that human oversight or interventions and the subsequent appropriation of AI-systems lead to continuous adaptation and re-design of the systems, if autono-my is collaboratively exercised. From a socio-technical point of view, the cru-cial requirement of transparency has not only to be fulfilled with technical fea-tures, but also by contributions of the whole system including human actors. It will be promising for using AI, if not only technical features, but organization-al and social practices are socio-technically designed in a way that compen-sates shortcomings of AI.

Thomas Herrmann

Ruhr-University Bochum, Institut für Arbeitswissenschaft, Bochum, Germany

Human-Centered AI Human Oversight of AI Human-AI Collaboration

Jul 9, 2026cs.AI

Psychological Competence as a Missing Dimension in AI Evaluation

Current AI evaluation frameworks focus primarily on technical performance, including accuracy, robustness, reasoning ability, and policy compliance. These measures remain essential, but they are not sufficient for systems that interact directly with users through natural language. Human-facing AI systems are increasingly used as advisors, coaches, tutors, and companions. In these roles, their responses can shape how users reason, interpret emotions, form beliefs, calibrate trust, and make decisions. The relevant unit of evaluation is therefore not only the model, but the human-AI interaction. This paper introduces psychological competence as a missing dimension in AI evaluation. We define psychological competence as the capacity of a human-facing AI system to support user cognition, emotional interpretation, and behavioral decision-making in ways that are appropriate to the user, context, and purpose of the interaction. This includes interaction properties such as framing, tone, perceived authority, responsiveness, uncertainty handling, and conversational guidance. Existing evaluation approaches capture parts of this problem but rarely assess these psychological effects directly. Drawing on behavioral science and human-AI interaction research, we outline a conceptual framework for psychological competence and its core domains. Rather than proposing a specific benchmark, we define the construct, clarify its boundaries, and describe how it may be assessed through scenario-based probes, structured human evaluation, and model-assisted evaluation methods. We argue that psychological competence should become a core consideration for model providers, deploying organizations, researchers, and regulators concerned with the real-world effects of human-facing AI systems.

Marcos Economides, Paul M. Sacher, Samuel Salzer +3

Behavioral AI Institute · Imperial College London

Human-AI Interaction Human-Centered AI Human-AI Decision Making

Jul 2, 2026cs.AI

Copewell: A Multi-Agent Swarm Architecture for Equitable Mental Wellness Support

Mental health disorders affect nearly one billion people globally, yet 75% of individuals in low- and middle-income countries receive no treatment due to workforce shortages, cost barriers, and stigma. Current AI-powered wellness solutions predominantly rely on single-mode conversational interfaces that suffer high abandonment rates and fail to provide measurable, immediate relief calibrated to users' dynamic emotional states. This paper presents Copewell, a novel multi-agent swarm system designed to expand access to mental wellness support through human-centered AI principles. Our architecture introduces three technical innovations: (1) a multi-source assessment framework integrating self-reported, physiological, and contextual data to mitigate algorithmic bias; (2) valence-arousal emotion mapping using Russell's Circumplex Model of Affect to route users to specialized AI agents; and (3) dual-mode intervention delivery combining conversational support with evidence-based sensory wellness protocols. We examine the sociotechnical design considerations underlying Copewell's development, including a privacy-first architecture, embedded ethical oversight through a dedicated Ethics Supervisor agent, and participatory design informed by mental health practitioners. Early practitioner engagement and beta deployment inform design decisions and identify directions for future empirical evaluation. This work contributes to responsible AI discourse by demonstrating how technical architecture can operationalize equity and safety principles from inception.

Seren Yenikent, Jack Vinijtrongjit, Katherine Ng

1*Copewell, Singapore.

Human-Centered AI Multi-Agent Systems Responsible AI

Jun 23, 2026cs.HC

Proactive Systems in HCI and AI: Concepts, Challenges, and Opportunities

The last few years have seen a significant rise in interest in highly autonomous and proactive systems, fueled by advances in AI. Systems that anticipate user needs, take initiative, and act without explicit user input. Such systems span a wide range of applications, from smart lighting that adapts to user activity to assistive robots that plan actions in advance to intelligent thermostats that learn routines and adjust environments proactively. Despite this breadth, the concept of proactivity remains loosely defined and inconsistently applied across research and practice. Current usage of the term often conflates fundamentally different system behaviors. For instance, simple reminders or recommendation systems are frequently labeled as proactive, even though underlying mechanisms and intentions differ significantly. This conceptual ambiguity limits our ability to systematically design, compare, and evaluate proactive systems. Moreover, existing methodologies for design and evaluation are largely rooted in reactive interaction paradigms, failing to address the unique challenges posed by proactive behavior, including timing, appropriateness, user control, transparency, and trust. This multidisciplinary workshop aims to establish a clearer and more rigorous foundation for understanding proactive systems. We bring together researchers and practitioners from Human-Computer Interaction, AI, and related fields to (1) develop a shared conceptualization of proactivity, (2) identify gaps and limitations in current design and evaluation approaches, and (3) co-create human-centered guidelines and research directions for future systems. Through interactive discussions and collaborative activities, the workshop seeks to map key challenges and opportunities, ultimately advancing robust and consistent frameworks for designing and evaluating proactive technologies.

Nima Zargham, Sharon Ferguson, Jaisie Sin +2

University of Toronto Toronto, Canada · University of Waterloo Waterloo, Canada · Carleton University Ottawa, Canada

Human-AI Interaction Human-Centered AI

Jun 23, 2026cs.HC

It's Complicated: On the Design and Evaluation of AI-Powered AAC Interfaces

Artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance what people who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are able to do with their systems. However, evaluating AI-powered AAC interfaces can be difficult. People are intersectional beings and current evaluation metrics can struggle to capture the multifaceted and nuanced desires people may have for their AAC. We explore the complicated nature of six AAC problem spaces, explore how AI might be used in these spaces, and suggest more robust methods of evaluation that take the intersectional nuances of people into account. We also discuss broader issues that arise across these problem spaces and how they could be addressed using our proposed evaluation methods.

Blade Frisch, Will Wade, Dylan Gaines +4

Michigan Technological University Houghton, Michigan, USA · Smartbox Assistive Technology Ltd Bristol, UK · Kennesaw State University Marietta, Georgia, USA +2

Human-Centered AI

Jun 23, 2026cs.AI

Exploring the relationship between human-centric AI and firm idiosyncratic risks

Despite the extensive discussions of human-centric AI (HCAI) in Industry 5.0, its effects on firms' idiosyncratic risks (IR) remains underexplored. This is an imperative issue for firms navigate financial risks during the current technological revolution, as IR reflects investor reactions to corporate heterogeneous AI strategies and implementations by isolating firm-level stock volatility from systematic factors. Integrating situated AI theory with social-technical systems theory, we conceptualise HCAI as a situated AI strategy that reduces AI-related ethical risks and fosters AI-Human synergies in firms' business operations, ultimately reducing IR by aligning with stakeholders' diverse expectations. Moreover, socio-technical factors, namely digitalisation, operational efficiency, executive shareholding, and CEOs with IT background, may moderate the HCAI-IR relationship. Using a multi-source panel dataset of Chinese listed firms from 2015 to 2023, we find that HCAI is associated with lower firm IR. Furthermore, digitalisation and executive shareholding strengthen this risk-reducing effect, whereas operational efficiency and CEOs with IT background surprisingly attenuate it. Our findings offer theoretical contributions and practical insights for both ethical AI governance and firm financial risk management in the AI era.

Zhen-Yuan Ralph Liu, Yu-Ting Wang, Jia-Jia Yan +2

CUMT · Department of Accounting, School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Tongshan District, Xuzhou City, China · NFU +5

Human-Centered AI

Jun 22, 2026cs.AI

Digital Humanism and Evolutionary Design

This paper examines the two concepts of digital humanism and evolutionary design. The aim is to identify and highlight potential common structures, synergies, and challenges. How should and can technical systems be designed, and what implications does this have for the design of our environment? In light of the current debate surrounding artificial intelligence, this paper aims to serve as a preliminary study to help better understand the two concepts of digital humanism and evolutionary design within the context of human-centered technological development. Following a brief introduction, the two concepts of Digital Humanism and Evolutionary Design are presented and graphically visualized. The terms of freedom and responsibility in human decision-making, conviviality, and subjectivity are discussed, along with examples illustrating the distinction between human and artificial intelligence (Turing Test and Chinese Room). The various concepts of evolutionary design (e.g., co-evolutionary or sustainable software development, clean code, or green IT) and Gilbert Simondon's concept of the "open machine" are introduced. The interdependencies between functional specialization and open technology development are highlighted. Both concepts share similar structures. In joint cooperation, they can lead to positive effects and mutual synergies. Significant differences lie in the areas of autonomy and determination in decision-making, as well as in genuine and simulated subjectivity. Open technology development is also currently suffering from the functional specialization of software and AI applications due to a purely market- and consumer-oriented approach. Even optimizations for energy efficiency in sustainable software development lead to greater specialization and thus also have a detrimental effect on open and quality-oriented technology development.

Wolfgang Höhl

Technical University of Munich (TUM) School of Computation, Information and Technology (CIT) München, Germany, EU

Software Engineering Human-Centered AI

Jun 20, 2026cs.HC

AI-Mediated Negotiation: Design Reflections and Lessons

Conversational AI promises a new kind of preparation for high-stakes workplace negotiations -- personalized, interactive, and capable of simulating realistic resistance. That promise is intuitive. We built Trucey, a theory-driven coaching system, to test it. The system encoded four assumptions: that articulation supports clarification, that personalization builds strategic competence, that chunked delivery reduces cognitive load, and that structured scaffolding removes metacognitive burden. A pre-registered experiment (N=267) and interviews (N=15) complicated each of them. Notably, the static handbook we included as a passive control outperformed both AI conditions on empowerment and usability. We reflect on why: each assumption encoded a specific model of how preparation unfolds, and the findings revealed that conversational AI imposes a linear execution model on a task that is fundamentally recursive. We identify an unexamined scope condition on established HAI design guidelines and close with a sequencing principle -- map before path, path before simulation -- for future AI coaching design.

Veda Duddu, Jash Rajesh Parekh, Andy Mao +4

University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, USA · University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA · Johns Hopkins University, USA +1

Human-AI Interaction Human-Centered AI Conversational Agents Human-AI Collaboration

Jun 19, 2026eess.AS

Sexualised synthetic personas encode and amplify gendered power asymmetries through voice

This work examines sexualised AI-generated English-speaking voices offered by a popular commercial platform. New technologies may enable sexual empowerment and greater diversity in gender expression, yet toxic masculinity, heteronormativity, and the abuse of women and LGBTQ+ people remain pervasive online. Drawing on a Feminist HCI perspective, we examine how commercial voice AI systems reproduce and circulate particular performances of gender. We conducted a listening experiment with a diverse group of listeners, combining quantitative adjective selection, qualitative free-text responses, and acoustic analysis. Participants evaluated male- and female-coded voices presented with either sexualised scripts or neutral text. Results reveal a narrow range of gender expression, largely binary and heteronormative. Female-coded voices are more frequently described using sexualised and submissive terms, while male-coded voices are more often associated with dominance and positive traits.

Alice Ross, Ariadna Sanchez, Elin Kanhov +2

University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom · KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

TTS Synthesis Algorithmic Bias Human-Centered AI

Jun 17, 2026cs.CY

ELEVATE: Designing Human-Centered GenAI Virtual Tutors for Scalable and Inclusive Education

The advent of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), and in particular Large Language Models (LLMs), is reshaping educational practice, while intensifying ethical debate about its adoption. To date, the dominant paradigm remains cloud-based and text-only chatbot: a centralized service that offers limited pedagogical control, weak transparency over knowledge sources, and non-trivial risks for privacy and regulatory compliance. This model also presumes continuous connectivity and recurring API costs, creating structural barriers for many institutions, reinforcing existing digital divides. At the same time, educational interaction with LLM can benefit from multimodal cues and embodied presence, requiring interfaces that move beyond text-only tutoring. In this work, we propose ELEVATE (Efficient LLM Education with Virtual Avatar Teaching Engine), a framework to develop efficient GenAI-driven avatar tutors governed by epistemic infrastructures. ELEVATE integrates LLM-driven dialogue with embodied 3D avatars for multimodal interaction and adopts a local-first execution model enabling deployment on consumer-grade hardware. The framework formalizes a three-stratum design that separates (i) a student-facing virtual avatar interaction layer, (ii) a local GenAI execution and multimodal synthesis core, and (iii) a teacher-facing governance layer. We implemented and evaluated a working prototype deployed in a real-world educational curriculum. The system runs on standard PCs and smartphones, and we provide system-level performance evidence to show responsive interaction under realistic hardware constraints. Finally, we discuss sociotechnical and pedagogical implications for responsible adoption, positioning ELEVATE as a scalable pathway for privacy-preserving and inclusive GenAI tutoring across heterogeneous school environments.

Lorenzo Stacchio, Michele Giordano, Daniele Berardini +2

Intelligent Tutoring Systems Generative AI in Education Human-Centered AI Embodied AI

Jun 17, 2026cs.HC

Human-AI Agent Interaction in a Business Context

As AI agents are increasingly integrated into core business processes, understanding and designing effective interaction patterns between humans and AI agents becomes crucial for value creation. This study identifies and evaluates principles and criteria for a positive User Experience (UX) with AI agents, along with methods for its measurement. We identify user expectations and needs to facilitate adoption, build trust, and support user-centered decision-making by development teams. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative and quantitative techniques, we explore interaction patterns between humans and AI agents. The findings from this exploratory research serve as the basis to develop a survey experiment which evaluates the effectiveness of specific design elements on a larger scale. This foundational research contributes to the development of more intuitive and effective human-AI agent interactions in business settings.

Kathrin Paimann, Elizangela Valarini, Sebastian Juhl

SAP SE, Dietmar-Hopp-Allee 16, 69190 Walldorf, Germany · Hochschule Fresenius Heidelberg, Sickingenstraße 63-65, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany · University of Missouri, Columbia, USA

Human-AI Interaction Human-Centered AI

Jun 16, 2026cs.CY

Improving Survey Participation in Low-Literacy Populations Through Value-Sensitive Conversational AI

Collecting reliable social data from low-literacy populations remains a persistent challenge, particularly when surveys involve sensitive topics and marginalized communities. Traditional paper-based and web-based survey modalities often suffer from high attrition and incomplete responses due to literacy barriers, social pressure, and interactional discomfort. In this paper, we present findings from an initial field evaluation comparing multiple survey modalities paper-based interviews, digital web-based surveys, conversational AI (convAI) surveys, and convAI enhanced with layered value-sensitive design conducted with low-literacy women across India. Using data from 315 participants, we show that convAI significantly improves survey completion rates relative to traditional modalities, with the highest completion and lowest drop-off observed when value-sensitive and culturally aligned conversational design elements are fully integrated. These results demonstrate the importance of human-centered and value-sensitive interaction design in enabling inclusive, ethical, and scalable data collection; motivating more `AI for social good' applications.

Raj Gaurav Maurya

Technical University of Munich

Computational Social Science Human-Centered AI Conversational Agents

Jun 16, 2026cs.HC

AI Adoption Across a Multinational Workforce: Sociotechnical Conditions for GenAI Acceptance in Human Resources

Generative AI (GenAI) deployment in the workplace is accelerating rapidly. Nevertheless, questions of who adopts, who benefits, and who is left behind and why are still understudied. In this paper, we investigate these dynamics in the context of a multinational tech company transitioning from a legacy Human Resources (HR) search system to a GenAI-supported system, analyzing search log data, survey data (n=25), and ten semi-structured interviews. Our findings show that adoption depended on the fit between the GenAI system's design assumptions and employees' work positionalities (role, spoken language, tenure). Further, we find that employees' trust in GenAI answers was built through source-checking, comparison among systems, and seeking input from colleagues or HR when in doubt. Our contribution is twofold. First, we provide empirical evidence of workplace GenAI adoption during a live organizational transition, showing that adoption is influenced by factors such as situational fit, search literacy, and trust calibration. It is also further shaped by knowledge conditions such as the system's content quality, employee training, and guidance. Second, we translate these findings into design considerations for inclusive deployment and adoption in high-stakes environments such as HR. We argue that organizations should design systems considering the role and context-sensitive benefits they yield to different social groups. They also need to treat the organizational knowledge infrastructure as AI infrastructure to improve the accountability and usability of GenAI systems

Dalia Ali, Maria José Rodríguez Velázquez, Manoel Horta Ribeiro +2

Technical University of Munich · Princeton University · University of Michigan

Human-AI Interaction Human-Centered AI Trust in AI

Jun 14, 2026cs.HC

SCAN: A Decision-Making Framework for Effective Task Allocation with Generative AI

We introduce SCAN -- a human-centric decision-making framework to facilitate learners for effective task allocation with Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and Metacognition. In SCAN, we systematize and formalize AI-human interaction by introducing a task-identification approach with four "sub-zones": Substitute, Complement, Aid, and Non-negotiable. After describing the four sub-zones, we demonstrate how SCAN framework can be applied for knowledge workers in the workplace and students in education to metacognitively "scan" their use of Generative AI. We then discuss how such framework can be related to cognitive load theory, cognitive offloading, sycophancy, three decision-making modes in human-AI interactions (automation, augmentation, and collaboration), future of work such as upskilling and deskilling, and how it accounts for both human-human and human-AI learning. We propose that SCAN offers a great starting point before discussing whether GenAI complements or replaces our abilities when completing a task, with a general objective of sustaining lifelong learning, and a specific goal of reaching hybrid intelligence.

Fendi Tsim, Alina Gutoreva

1Independent Researcher, London, United Kingdom · School of IT and Engineering, Kazakh-British Technical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Generative AI in Education Human-Centered AI Human-AI Decision Making Human-AI Collaboration

Jun 12, 2026cs.HC

Thinking Outside the [Chat]Box: Bridging Computer Science and Industrial Design for Cognitive-Inclusive Generative AI

Current Generative AI (GenAI) interfaces remain largely constrained to chatbox interaction, which can impose high cognitive demands on users and create substantial barriers for people with intellectual disabilities (ID), including prompt formulation difficulties, response overload, and limited mechanisms to assess information reliability. To explore alternative interaction models for cognitive accessibility, we conducted a cross-disciplinary co-design challenge in which two student cohorts (Computer Science and Industrial Design) developed interface concepts from the same set of functional requirements (e.g., prompt scaffolding, structured output, GUI-based refinement, transparency, and personalization). Comparing the resulting proposals reveals both convergence on foundational requirements (notably initial calibration, proactive prompting, and direct manipulation of response fragments) and complementary contributions that outline a multi-layered support system. Computer Science teams primarily produced structural scaffolding, emphasizing predictability, navigability, and trust through mechanisms such as reliability indicators, explicit sources, and context management for long conversations. Industrial Design teams emphasized experiential scaffolding, focusing on pacing, attention guidance, multimodality, and proactive agency, including step-by-step response flows, focus modes, and assistant-like integrations. We synthesize these findings into a dual-layer scaffolding framework that expands the design space for cognitively accessible GenAI interaction beyond chat-centric models and motivates future work on expert refinement, technical feasibility, and empirical validation with users with ID.

Virginia Francisco, Daniel Guasch, Raquel Hervás

Facultad de Inform´atica Universidad Complutense de Madrid Madrid, Spain · Universitat Polit`ecnica de Catalunya Villanova i la Geltru, Spain · Instituto de Tecnolog´ıa Del Conocimiento Universidad Complutense de Madrid Madrid, Spain

Human-AI Interaction Human-Centered AI

Jun 11, 2026cs.AI

Under What Conditions Can a Machine Be Called Genuinely Creative?

Recent AI systems can generate texts, software architectures, hypotheses, designs, and scientific workflows that appear creative. This paper asks under what conditions a machine can be called genuinely creative, and how human agency can be preserved within shared cognitive and creative environments. It develops a requirement framework derived from Designics, the science of meaning-bearing intentional change. The paper argues that genuine machine creativity should not be defined by output novelty, current performance, or transient architecture alone. Instead, creativity is understood as the structural transformation of incomplete situations through recursive intervention dynamics. On this view, it depends on ten requirements: environment representation, scoped perception, conflict identification, intervention capability, consequence observation, knowledge and environment update, rescoping, local-to-global unfolding, value-based scoping, and human-AI co-living. These are organized through the three laws of Designics: perception, conflict, and capability. The paper illustrates the computational tractability of these requirements through selected cyber-physical and cyber-biological studies, including recursive element extraction, autonomous mesh generation, and neurophysiological and workload analysis. It then treats open-ended systems, automated discovery frameworks, self-modifying agents, foundation models, and agentic workflows as pressure cases: they demonstrate powerful generative means but do not by themselves establish genuine machine creativity. Finally, the paper argues that proactive AI ethics is internal to genuine machine creativity rather than an after-the-fact filter. Value-based scoping and human-AI co-living must shape how creative machines perceive environments, identify conflicts, select interventions, observe consequences, update knowledge, and rescope future action.

Yong Zeng

Department of Cybersecurity and Intelligent Systems Engineering Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

Computational Creativity Human-Centered AI Human-AI Co-Creation

Jun 9, 2026cs.CY

Position: AI Must Become Planet-Centered, Not Just Human-Centered

This position paper argues that contemporary AI paradigms are insufficient for supporting complex global goals and introduces Planet-Centered AI (PCAI) as a design philosophy and research agenda that reorients AI toward planetary-scale socio-ecological systems and their long-term trajectories. A planet-centered approach is grounded in systems thinking, treating Earth as an interconnected whole of which humans are part. We diagnose recurring limitations across AI frameworks, many of which remain human-centered, and show why these become especially consequential under current planetary conditions characterized by systemic risk, non-stationarity, and deep uncertainty. We then articulate how PCAI reshapes the AI lifecycle, from problem formulation and model design to evaluation and deployment, by emphasizing alignment with global agendas, developing system-aware AI foundations, trajectory-oriented evaluation, and monitorability. Finally, we advance a falsifiable claim: AI systems optimized without explicit consideration of systemic consequences are more likely to exacerbate systemic instability than to mitigate it.

Maria Perez-Ortiz

Centre for AI, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK.

AI Alignment Human-Centered AI AI Safety

Jun 8, 2026cs.CY

Culturally-Aware AI for Cross-Boundary Community Learning: Undergraduate Innovation at the Intersection of Computation and Design

Research on artificial intelligence in education (AIED) is rapidly expanding, yet technical progress often lacks human-centered grounding and adequate attention to cultural context. Community-Based Learning, a pedagogy rooted in social work, remains underrepresented in AIED research, particularly within Asia-Pacific contexts. This paper reports on cross-boundary Community-Based Learning where undergraduate students develop AI-enabled solutions for cultural heritage preservation and sustainable development. We examine how community-engaged computing operationalizes human-centered AIED across three dimensions: education, technology, and culture. We contribute a collaborative framework for culturally-aware AIED that fosters multi-stakeholder collaboration while widening participation by dissolving disciplinary silos between social work and computational science.

Jiaojiao Zhao, Weisheng Zhang, Jiawen Cai +2

Duke Kunshan University, Suzhou, China · Zhouzhuang Mystery of Life Museum, Suzhou, China · Digital Innovation Research Center and Social Science Division, Duke Kunshan University. Address: Duke Avenue No.8, Kunshan, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, 215316.

Educational Technology AI in Education Cultural Alignment Human-Centered AI

Jun 6, 2026cs.MA

Toward Human-Centered Multi-Agent Systems: Integrating Cognition, Culture, Values, and Cooperation in AI Agents

The emergence of large language model (LLM)-based agents and multi-agent systems has enabled a shift from narrow task automation to more autonomous decision-making. Despite progress in language generation, planning, tool use, and coordination, most agents still treat intelligence as prediction, optimization, and task completion. Human environments are social and normative, where people reason under bounded rationality, communicate in culturally situated language, and make decisions guided by values, beliefs, trust, and social norms. This survey argues that future AI agents, especially those acting on behalf of humans, must move beyond task competence toward human-centered capabilities. We review research across six areas: (1) evolution of intelligent agents, (2) human cognition and decision-making, (3) language, culture, and social context, (4) human values and belief systems, (5) human-agent collaboration, and (6) multi-agent coordination and modeling of human characteristics. We synthesize work from cognitive science, sociolinguistics, computational social science, and AI alignment, along with recent advances in LLM agents, cultural alignment benchmarks, preference learning, explainability, and agent societies. We identify a key gap: existing systems do not provide a unified framework integrating cognition, culture, values, and social behavior into autonomous agents. We conclude with directions for building culturally aware, value-aligned, cognitively grounded, and cooperative multi-agent systems.

Safia Baloch, Rahemeen Khan

GIKI

Multi-Agent Coordination AI Alignment Human-Centered AI Multi-Agent Systems Human-AI Collaboration

Jun 5, 2026cs.AI

Scaling Participation in Modular AI Systems

Humanity is a mosaic of multifaceted talents and needs, and any truly intelligent AI must reflect that richness. Yet the LLMs used by all are built by the few -- a centralized market of monolithic AI models structurally ill-suited to capture the diversity of human knowledge, reasoning, and values. Here we introduce scaling participation, a new paradigm in which modular, community-sourced AI systems are built from the bottom up through the contributions of diverse stakeholders. Participants contribute small models trained on their own interests and priorities; these models then collaborate in modular frameworks as compositional AI systems, repurposing existing collaboration algorithms for this bottom-up paradigm. Participatory AI systems outperform monolithic LLMs by up to 15.42% (95% CI: [10.09%, 21.13%]) across 15 tasks, such as reasoning and factuality, surpassing models with more parameters than all contributed components combined. Further experiments show that these systems are especially strong at representing diverse cultures, values, and communities, benefit from contributor diversity, substantially improve on each contributor's original priorities, and exhibit emergent capabilities that allow them to solve over 15% of problems where all individual models fail. Scaling participation provides a technical foundation, demonstrated here with academic contributors and benchmark evaluations, for transitioning from the monolithic status quo toward an open, bottom-up, and collaborative AI future.

Shangbin Feng, Yike Wang, Weijia Shi +3

University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. · Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.

Human-Centered AI Multi-LLM Collaboration

Jun 2, 2026cs.CY

Structuring the Space of Sociotechnical Alignment

Sociotechnical alignment concerns the social desirability of AI behavior and is thus inherently normative, not merely technical. While NLP research increasingly addresses its technical aspects, it often leaves underspecified what such "social desirability" entails. We argue that this reflects a fundamental gap: the absence of a systematic way to specify how sociotechnical alignment defines, justifies, and evaluates socially desirable AI behavior. To address this gap, we introduce a human-centered framework for specifying sociotechnical alignment. We draw on social-scientific accounts of sociobehavioral desirability to ground the basis for behavioral desirability judgments and use this framework to analyze how alignment is specified in practice. Our systematic literature review identifies recurring patterns: normative concepts grounding desirability judgments are often unspecified or conflated with alignment targets for (desired) system behavior, target populations are underdefined, and design choices are rarely theoretically justified. These findings point to a lack of conceptual specificity that limits cumulative progress. We therefore offer recommendations that link social-scientific frameworks to alignment design choices, supporting more conceptually precise approaches to sociotechnical alignment.

Esra Dönmez, Agnieszka Falenska

Institute for Natural Language Processing, University of Stuttgart · Interchange Forum for Reflecting on Intelligent Systems, University of Stuttgart

AI Alignment Human-Centered AI

Jun 2, 2026cs.AI

Solipsistic Superintelligence is Unlikely to be Cooperative

AI's central challenge is shifting from capability to coexistence. The dominant paradigm in AI research focuses on developing powerful agents that treat the world as an exogenous and stationary source of feedback. We contend that superintelligence, an extremely capable task solver, born out of such a solipsistic approach to AI design, is unlikely to be cooperative. Deploying AI systems induces endogenous non-stationarity, resulting in a train-test-deploy gap where historical distributions diverge from the deployment context. We refer to this as the self-undermining property of unilateral optimization. Closing this gap requires AI that participates in cooperation: the equilibrium-selection process through which multiple actors navigate their interdependence. We call for a non-solipsistic research paradigm that treats this interdependence as a core design principle rather than approaching cooperation as a task to solve. This entails building dynamic evaluation testbeds involving adaptive counterparties, treating institutions as design primitives, and preserving human agency as a structural feature of the systems we build.

Rakshit S Trivedi, Natasha Jaques, Logan Cross +2

Independent Researcher, CA, USA · University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA · Google Deepmind, London, UK.

AI Alignment Multi-Agent Collaboration AI Agent Safety Human-Centered AI

May 31, 2026cs.CY

AI From the Margins (AIM): Rethinking Participatory AI Design Through the Lived Experience of Minoritized Communities

Artificial intelligence (AI) can reproduce and amplify the structural inequities faced by minoritized communities. Participatory AI has been proposed as a response, but participation typically starts after problem definitions and success criteria have been set, leaving limited room for minoritized communities to reshape what an AI system is for. We propose AI From the Margins (AIM): a methodological stance that articulates the conditions under which lived experiences of minoritized communities can be elicited, centered, and carried forward to inform participatory AI design. AIM is not a fixed protocol; it articulates a set of preconditions that can be enacted through different techniques in different settings. We applied AIM in a Dutch healthcare context in eight sessions with 13 women and non-binary people of color and five municipal policy workers, namely through (1) narrative elicitation using the Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM); (2) co-constructed rule-making; (3) participants' determination of whether, where, and how AI should be involved; and (4) translating lived experience into AI policy through dialogue with policymakers. In their reflections on the sessions, participants described the engagement as substantive and called for its continuation, demonstrating how preparatory orientation fundamentally grounded in lived experience shapes what participatory AI design is for.

Tijs Portegies, Laureanne Willems, Maaike Harbers +5

University of Amsterdam · 2Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences · University of Toronto

Human-Centered AI Human-AI Co-Creation Responsible AI

May 29, 2026cs.HC

Appropriateness of Empathy in AI: A Signal-Cost Perspective

The appropriateness of empathy in AI has emerged as a critical concern, as excessive empathy risks seeming manipulative while insufficient empathy appears dismissive. While prior research has explored how to quantify empathy in AI, few studies examine whether such empathy is contextually appropriate. This paper introduces an economic perspective by applying signaling theory to human-AI conversations. We propose Signal Cost Proxies (emotional richness, perspective-taking, and contextual tailoring) mapped to affective, cognitive, and associative empathy. This multidimensional framework enables systematic evaluation of empathy not just by presence, but by its appropriateness relative to user demand.

Chi-Ching Juan, Tao Wang, Harold Lee

School of Information University of Toronto Toronto, Canada · Independent Researcher Toronto, Canada

Human-Centered AI Affective Computing

May 29, 2026cs.HC

Extending the UXR Point of View Pyramid: A Generative AI-Augmented Methodology for Human-Centred AI Systems

Rising household debt and cost-of-living pressures in the United Kingdom have intensified the role of AI-driven financial technologies in mediating credit assessment, repayment structuring, and debt support services. These systems increasingly shape consequential financial decisions, yet they operate within complex socio-technical environments characterised by regulatory constraint, algorithmic opacity, and heightened vulnerability risk. User Experience Research (UXR) Points of View (PoVs) are critical in translating heterogeneous research evidence into strategic direction for product and governance decisions. However, the existing UXR PoV framework was not designed for AI-mediated financial systems where interpretability, fairness, and accountability are central. This paper extends the UXR PoV pyramid into an AI-augmented methodological framework for Human-Centred AI debt management technologies in the UK financial services context. We formalise (1) an AI-Augmented PoV Pyramid, (2) a structured prompt architecture for synthesis and hypothesis generation, and (3) an AI-enabled Playbook Card system that embeds Generative AI into UXR workflows while preserving traceability and ethical oversight. Generative AI is positioned not as an analytic authority, but as an epistemic support mechanism subject to human validation and regulatory awareness. By grounding the framework in debt management technologies, including affordability assessment, repayment planning, and financial stress prediction systems, this work advances UXR methodology for high-stakes financial AI environments and contributes to the evolution of responsible, AI-powered UXR practice within the CHI community.

Festus Fatai Adedoyin, Huseyin Dogan, Melike Akca +1

School of Computing and Engineering, Bournemouth University Poole, UK

Financial Services Human-in-the-Loop AI Human-Centered AI Human Oversight of AI

May 29, 2026cs.HC

Developing an AI-Powered UX Research Point of View for Digital Health in A Regulatory Context: An Exemplar Case from MSM and Transgender HIV Care in Nigeria

User Experience Research (UXR) in a legal and regulatory contexts presents unique challenges that require specialised approaches to protect vulnerable populations whilst generating actionable insights. Digital consultation, appointment booking, and medication delivery platforms show promise for extending care access; however, their real-world effectiveness is curtailed by an absence of theoretically grounded user experience research (UXR) methodologies that adequately account for the psychosocial conditions of these populations. This paper introduces a Generative AI-augmented UXR methodology, grounded in the UXR Point of View (PoV) Playbook, to guide the design of psychologically safe, low-cognitive-load digital health interventions for MSM and transgender individuals living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. Drawing from empirical research involving co-design workshops, thematic analysis, and requirements engineering, the methodology is operationalised through a four-stage UXR process encompassing AI-supported hypothesis generation, foundational planning, insight generation via Building Blocks, and the construction of stakeholder-specific PoV narratives. This process results in ten theory-informed UXR Play Cards that translate psychological mechanisms and empirical findings into actionable design guidance. Each play contains actionable tasks, AI-augmented approaches, and ethical guardrails tailored for research with marginalised populations. The output is a set of ten theory-informed UXR Play Cards translating psychological insight and empirical evidence into actionable design guidance. The core contribution is a replicable, stigma-aware, and privacy-centred framework for responsible GenAI use in UXR practice, advancing human-centred digital health design for marginalised communities.

Emmanuel Oluwatosin Oluokun, Festus Fatai Adedoyin, Huseyin Dogan +5

School of Computing and Engineering, Bournemouth University Poole, UK

Healthcare Human-Centered AI Responsible AI

May 29, 2026cs.HC

UXR PoV for Neuroinclusive Emotion Regulation

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a psychiatric disorder which presents itself in individuals through patterns of developmentally inappropriate levels of inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, with difficulties in decision making and emotional regulation (ER). Although digital and AI-based interventions have expanded access to ER support, many existing systems remain limited by weak theoretical integration, insufficient accommodation of neurodiversity, and a lack of structured user experience research (UXR) methodologies, that bridge psychological insight with design practice. This paper introduces a Generative AI-augmented UXR methodology, grounded in the UXR Point of View (PoV) Playbook, to support the design of emotionally intelligent and Neuroinclusive digital ER interventions for adults with ADHD. The approach integrates empirical evidence with established psychological frameworks Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Self-Determination Theory (SDT), and the COM-B behavioural model and leverages Generative AI as a co-analytic tool to support synthesis, hypothesis formation, and design articulation. The methodology is operationalized through a four-stage UXR process encompassing AI-supported hypothesis generation, foundational planning, insight generation via Building Blocks, and the construction of stakeholder-specific PoV narratives. This process results in a set of ten theory informed UXR Play Cards that translate psychological mechanisms and empirical findings into actionable design guidance. The primary contribution of this work is a replicable, bias-aware framework for integrating Generative AI into UXR practice, advancing human-centred and Neuroinclusive approaches to digital mental health design.

Melike Akca, Mona Giff, Deniz Cetinkaya +2

School of Computing and Engineering, Bournemouth University Poole, UK · London, UK · Google Redmond, Washington, USA

Human-Centered AI Human-AI Co-Creation

May 28, 2026cs.HC

Design Principles for Human-Agent Interaction

AI agents are rapidly evolving into autonomous systems capable of sustained interaction, tool use, and long-term collaboration. Yet their real-world adoption remains limited, suggesting that the key barrier lies not only in technical capability but also in a lack of design knowledge for successful human-agent interaction. This position paper argues that AI agents should not be solely evaluated or deployed based on autonomous task capability alone; because agents interact with, adapt to, influence, and sometimes fail humans, human-agent interaction must be treated as a core design and evaluation target for agentic AI. We present 14 design principles that articulate the ideal human-agent relationship across four interaction stages: initially, during interaction, over time, and when things go wrong. We use these principles to evaluate nine agent systems to illustrate that these design principles can provide actionable guidance for AI design teams to systematically design and evaluate agents that are usable, trustworthy, and effective in real-world interactive settings.

Haiyi Zhu, Canwen Wang, Qing Xiao +1

Carnegie Mellon University · Pittsburgh, PA 15213

AI Agent Evaluation Human-AI Interaction Human-Centered AI