AI is increasingly shaping how people socially connect. From AI-mediated communication and coordination to artificial companions and relational agents, AI is becoming a powerful social catalyst in everyday life. This one-day workshop invites researchers, designers, students, and practitioners to explore how AI influences human social connections through speculative and participatory design. The workshop focuses on two key themes: AI-mediated human--human connection, and AI companionship. Through hands-on design activities and discussion, participants will collaboratively examine how AI shapes trust, authenticity, care, and boundaries in social relationships. We welcome participants from HCI, interaction design, CSCW, social computing, AI ethics, speculative design, and related fields.
Participants are invited to submit either a:
1--4 page position paper
paragraph and a picture describing and depicting an imagined social AI future
demonstration of a relevant artefact (such as an AI companion).
Submissions will be used to create design prompts for the workshop design activities. This approach is intended to lower barriers to participation, support interdisciplinary engagement, and encourage contributions from researchers and practitioners at different career stages.
To apply to participate, submit this form.
This theme explores how AI can both support and challenge social connection in human–human connection. Across contexts, AI can augment communication and coordination, for example by translating language, helping people craft messages, supporting conflict resolution, or assisting with planning social activities. At the same time, over-reliance may introduce ethical risks, including dependency, manipulation, or erosion of interpersonal skills, raising concerns about trust, authenticity, and social-emotional development. For example, while AI voice assistants can foster communication between family members and assist parents in augmenting their parenting strategies, young children may form emotional attachments to the device, perceiving it as a family member capable of thoughts and emotions.
This theme explores questions such as:
What roles might AI play in supporting human–human social connection?
How does AI shape authenticity and trust across relationships (e.g., friends, family, romantic partners, and workplaces)?
How might AI affect social skills and emotional intelligence over time?
What other social, ethical, or relational issues might arise from AI-mediated human–human connection?
The second theme examines situations in which AI moves beyond mediating human–human connection to become a social companion that occupies a significant and ongoing role in a person’s social and emotional life. These forms of companionship raise design questions about agency, dependency, care, and responsibility when AI systems are positioned as confidants, romantic partners (e.g., AI boyfriends/girlfriends), therapists, or tutors. People may turn to AI companions for their constant availability and low barriers to access, which offer social interaction and a sense of connection when human support is unavailable. While this accessibility can be beneficial, it may also foster long-term attachment and emotional reliance on AI companions, potentially at the expense of forming and maintaining human relationships. In other contexts, children may engage with AI as tutors, supporting or substituting the role of carers and teachers and reshaping social roles and dynamics.
This theme explores questions such as:
How are people forming relationships with AI companions, and how might these relationships be recognised?
How do AI companions affect human relationships and social dynamics?
What are the design tensions between AI as supportive versus substitutive in human relationships?
How can designers navigate potential harms related to AI companionship, particularly for vulnerable populations?
What broader social, ethical, economic, or cultural impacts could arise from widespread AI companionship?