Nordichi 2024
Less than a month, and NordiCHI 2024 is just around the corner. NordiCHI will take place in Uppsala, Sweden, on October 13-16. The conference is jointly organized by Uppsala University and Umeå University.
I am pleased that my group is participating with three papers together with my colleagues. Here is a short overview.... It will soon also be online in the ACM DL. Links will follow as soon as possible.
Session: Generative AI
Monday 14.10.2024 11:00-12:30
In a Quasi-Social Relationship With ChatGPT. An Autoethnography on Engaging With Prompt-Engineered LLM Personas
by Eva Krapp, Robin Neuhaus, Marc Hassenzahl, Matthias Laschke
Abstract: As conversational AI like ChatGPT becomes more sophisticated, understanding emerging quasi-social relationships with it is crucial. Through analytical autoethnography, we explore the nuances of these relationships with two autobiographically designed ChatGPT personas to augment the social needs of the first author: the Endless Enthusiast (always responding positively and encouragingly) and the Socratic Tutor (asking questions to stimulate critical thinking). After six weeks of interaction, we find that for a successful relationship, the non-human counterpart must be authentic about its machine nature and limitations. Using deception to appear more human-like makes the relationship fail. We thus suggest designing machine relationships as complementary to human-human relationships. For authentic interactions, humans should be in control, with the machine authentically assuming a role that ”naturally” fits machines. Here, the unique qualities of machines in social interactions offer promising starting points for designing such roles.
Session: Sustainability 1
Monday 14/10, 16:00-17:30
Designing for a Post-Growth Society through the Eco-Harmonist. A Critical Examination of the Role of HCI and Technology Design
by Lenneke Kuijer & Matthias Laschke
Abstract: Looking for a way out of the current environmental crises requires a critical examination of the role of HCI and technology design. Through a practice theoretic lens, we argue that technological innovation, coupled with economic growth, drives mechanisms like accumulation, acceleration, and stacking, heightening resource demands of daily life. These mechanisms lead to technological dependency as everyday tasks are increasingly delegated to technology, which undermines wellbeing through deskilling, artificialization, and disempowerment. We emphasize HCI’s crucial role in these processes, aiming to enhance life’s ease, pleasure, comfort, and safety through technological innovation. Drawing on post-growth literature, we argue for a different perspective on the ’good life’, embodied by the eco-harmonist, someone committed to effort and skill acquisition. We propose some initial design-guidelines that aim to cater to the eco-harmonist and argue how it might assist HCI designers to shape everyday life to be more in line with the planetary limits.
Session: Design Theories and Methods
Wednesday 16/10, 11:00-12:30
Navigating the Paradox: Challenges of Designing Technology for Nonhumans
by Judith Dörrenbächer, Madlen Kneile, Marc Hassenzahl, Matthias Laschke
Abstract: Given the disproportionate impact of human activity on the Earth’s ecosystem, the planet is undergoing alarming changes. In this paper, we present seven technology concepts created by Master’s students that address this imbalance by advocating for nonhuman interests, such as tree representatives in parliaments, or a technological bat fighting for biodiversity with seed bombs. We analyzed the concepts and found three main categories: (1) allowing interspecies relations, (2) allowing intraspecies relations, or (3) allowing no relations. Moreover, we identified one main paradox for each concept, such as “preserving interdependent beings by separating them” and “conserving ‘the wild’ by taming it.” These seven paradoxes represent two underlying challenges: (1) to overcome the human perspective, and (2) to practice relational thinking. By discussing the limits, ambiguities, and tensions of designing for nonhumans, the paper contributes to a growing body of research in HCI that designs for more-than-human in the context of sustainability.