How can we imagine personal AI agents that understand human preferences without flattening the complexity of human life? Through the AI Otherwise project, I explored this question in the context of participatory workshops with everyday users and practitioners, examining alternative visions for trusted personal AI agents. The work connected speculative design, co-creation, and reflexive thematic analysis to identify what people value in future agents and what kinds of infrastructure may be needed for trustworthy deployment. It contributed to the paper Three Lessons from Citizen-Centric Participatory AI Design, published in Proceedings of Exploring the Participatory Turn in Citizen-Centred AI, an IUI ‘26 Workshop.
Beining Zhang
+ Follow
AI/ML Engineer & Researcher building trustworthy AI systems for Finance and Health.
