Through Her Lens

Exploring Women’s Perception of AI through Design Fiction Workshop

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With the growing interest in generative image AI among HCI researchers, there is an increasing focus on examining gender inequality within the AI research space. While previous research often concentrates on technical aspects of AI inequality and lived experience with harmful AI, we lack an understanding of how gender inequality manifests in individual perceptions and narratives, particularly future-focused ones. To address this gap, we use the co-design fiction methodology and interviews, asking eight self-identified female participants to collaboratively write fiction pieces with the goal of exploring their individual perceptions and narratives of gender equality in AI futures. We present a thematic analysis of how participants perceive and engage with AI, based on data from interviews, co-design fiction workshops, and design fiction stories. This research discusses the contribution of co-design fiction methodology to future AI, highlighting participants’ perspectives on the intersection of AI and gender issues, identity, emotional expression, and work.

Project Description

In this project, I asked eight self-identified female participants to write a design fiction, a research method to envision future (AI) possibilities while critically reflecting on the current issues surrounding the technology, to create fictional scenarios of generative image AI. Conducting the co-design fiction workshop, we aim to foster conversation and imagination about AI through the lens of gender and intersectionality.

We aimed to answer the following research questions:

• How can the co-design fiction workshop contribute to the conversation about perceptions and narratives around gender, identity, and future AI amongst self-identified women? (RQ1)
  
• Among self-identified women, what themes emerge in the perceptions of AI-generated images depicting women, and in the individual narratives of AI futures? (RQ2)

Methodology

We employed qualitative interviews and co-design fiction workshop in this study. Before conducting the study, I created a conceptual framework for the co-design fiction workshop, drawing from literature studies around ethical issues in generative AI technology and design fiction as a research tool. The framework indicates three overarching core themes that are significant to the workshop design: collaborative learning, social and cultural understanding, and speculative design thinking.

Findings

The initial themes from the interviews included issues surrounding AI applications; AI limits and advancements; potential impacts of AI on self-perception and body dysmorphia; and the role of women as female labor. Using these initial themes as a foundation, our research team followed the same structure to independently qualitative coded eight design fiction data and collaboratively analyzed the codes to identify final themes.

We then analyzed the findings from all collected data including introductory interviews, workshop discussions, and design fiction stories, which reflected participants’ insights related to our research questions.

The final themes centered around the future impact of AI technologies. Our findings show participants’ perspectives on

1. ongoing issues, particularly AI’s impact on bodily autonomy, gendered threats, and the portrayal of women’s labor.
   
2. AI’s effects on self-perception and identity, especially how generative image AI perpetuates harmful stereotypes and unrealistic beauty standards.
   
3. AI’s psychological impacts on emotional expression, such as increased anxiety and escapism.
   
4. AI’s potential to reshape employment and break down age barriers.
   

Our research shows that the rapid advancement of AI technologies not only raises ethical concerns but also contributes to a growing sense of unease and uncertainty about the future, particularly in how individuals relate to themselves and their roles in society.

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