Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the realities of teaching, learning, and research. The question is not only what AI can do, but how it reshapes the social fabric of education and influences the ways knowledge is constructed and shared. This interactive workshop explores human centered approaches to AI that prioritize empathy, critical information practices, and social good, while also preparing educators and researchers for an AI driven world. The workshop begins with participant reflections on hopes, fears, and assumptions about AI, creating a shared emotional landscape of adoption and theory. Participants will construct empathy maps to consider the perspectives of students, faculty, and community members who rely on AI tools for learning and information seeking. Through short design sprints, participants will reimagine common AI applications such as accessibility tools, advising systems, plagiarism detection platforms, and search interfaces. Discussions will highlight how these technologies can amplify equity, inclusion, and the social construction of knowledge while mitigating harm. Participants will also explore practical strategies for preparing learners to critically engage with AI in their information seeking and knowledge creation practices. The session concludes with an exercise in which participants articulate guiding principles for empathetic and socially responsible AI use in their own educational and research contexts. This workshop emphasizes how AI can both reproduce and resist inequities. The implications extend to curriculum design, faculty development, and institutional policy, underscoring the responsibility of educators and researchers to shape AI futures that strengthen trust, inclusion, and human connection
Presenters
Cynthia DudenhofferTeaching Professor/Associate Director, School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Human-Centered AI Transformations
KEYWORDS
Information Seeking, Knowledge Construction, Empathy, Equity, Education, Human-centered Design, Accessibility
