Related papers: Voice to Vision: Enhancing Civic Decision-Making t…
Reaching consensus in urban planning is a complex process often hindered by prolonged negotiations, trade-offs, power dynamics, and competing stakeholder interests, resulting in inefficiencies and inequities. Advances in large language…
This paper presents a plan-based architecture for response generation in collaborative consultation dialogues, with emphasis on cases in which the system (consultant) and user (executing agent) disagree. Our work contributes to an overall…
The limited information (data voids) on political topics relevant to underrepresented communities has facilitated the spread of disinformation. Independent journalists who combat disinformation in underrepresented communities have reported…
Anonymity is a powerful component of many participatory media platforms that can afford people greater freedom of expression and protection from external coercion and interference. However, it can be difficult to effectively implement on…
Participatory design in digital civics aims to foster mutual learning and co-creation between public services and citizens. However, rarely do we collectively explore the challenges and failures we experience within PD and digital civics,…
Traditional approaches to data-informed policymaking are often tailored to specific contexts and lack strong citizen involvement and collaboration, which are required to design sustainable policies. We argue the importance of empathy-based…
Due to the opacity of machine learning technology, there is a need for explainability and fairness in the decision support systems used in public or private organizations. Although the criteria for appropriate explanations and fair…
Democracy is not a single mechanism. It is a space of possible configurations -- a spectrum stretching from pure direct participation to full delegation of authority. The systems we live under today occupy a narrow band of that spectrum,…
Participatory budgeting, as a paradigm for democratic innovations, engages citizens in the distribution of a public budget to projects, which they propose and vote for implementation. So far, voting algorithms have been proposed and studied…
Manipulative design in user interfaces (conceptualized as dark patterns) has emerged as a significant impediment to the ethical design of technology and a threat to user agency and freedom of choice. While previous research focused on…
AI algorithms used in the public sector, e.g., for allocating social benefits or predicting fraud, often involve multiple public and private stakeholders at various phases of the algorithm's life-cycle. Communication issues between these…
As fusion energy technologies approach demonstration and commercial deployment, understanding public perspectives on future fusion facilities will be critical for achieving social license, especially because fusion energy facilities, unlike…
In the age of big data, companies and governments are increasingly using algorithms to inform hiring decisions, employee management, policing, credit scoring, insurance pricing, and many more aspects of our lives. AI systems can help us…
Makeup plays a vital role in self-expression, identity, and confidence - yet remains an underexplored domain for assistive technology, especially for people with vision impairments. While existing tools support isolated tasks such as color…
This paper introduces a human-in-the-loop computer vision framework that uses generative AI to propose micro-scale design interventions in public space and support more continuous, local participation. Using Grounding DINO and a curated…
Challenges in spatial planning include adjusting settlement patterns to increasing or shrinking populations; it also includes organizing food delivery in rural and peripheral environments. Discourse typically starts with an open problem and…
Participatory design initiatives, especially within the realm of digital civics, are often integrated and co-developed with the very citizens and communities they intend to assist. Digital civics research aims to create positive social…
In the face of complex decisions, people often engage in a three-stage process that spans from (1) exploring and analyzing pertinent information (intelligence); (2) generating and exploring alternative options (design); and ultimately…
Individuals lack oversight over systems that process their data. This can lead to discrimination and hidden biases that are hard to uncover. Recent data protection legislation tries to tackle these issues, but it is inadequate. It does not…
As governments increasingly adopt digital tools, public service chatbots have emerged as a growing communication channel. This paper explores the design considerations and engagement opportunities of public service chatbots, using a 311…