Call for Participation
Considering Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in AI Applications:
A Hybrid (In-Person/Virtual) Workshop
Event Sponsors: Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) U.S. West Chapter and UCI Connected Learning Lab
May 6, 2025
AI has tremendous potential to improve all different aspects of our lives – leading to changes in many facets of life, including making our day-to-day lives easier, allowing for more personalized healthcare, and generating insights as we live and learn. There are also challenges and potential issues that we should consider, such as:
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How are people affected differently by AI?
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How might aspects of one's culture, background, and other characteristics or traits affect how we might respond to AI?
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How might these considerations inform how we regard or develop applications involving AI?
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How do we collaboratively work towards integrating the values and preferences of communities of interest in AI tools?
This workshop seeks to bring together researchers, practitioners, and others who work with (or are interested in working with) culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations. All levels of technical expertise welcome!
Event purposes: 1) raise awareness about the importance of thoughtful engagement in the design of AI applications for culturally and linguistically diverse populations; 2) offer a venue to engage in activities to think about relevant concepts and build relevant skills; and 3) present and hear about the work of others on this topic.
Expected lessons learned: 1) experiential learning experiences with prompt engineering; 2) takeaways and strategies for working with communities of interest
Workshop locations: University of Washington (UW); University of California, Irvine (UCI); and virtual
Workshop Schedule (all times PST, time zone converter here)
12:30 - 12:40 pm Opening
12:40 - 1:30 pm Research/practice presentations
1:35 - 2:15 pm Poster session
2:15 - 4:10 pm Tutorial + Chatbot Kickstarter Activity
4:10 - 4:30 pm Debrief
4:30pm Reception at University of Washington.
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The workshop will fully support virtual participation. UW and UCI will support in-person participation.
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The research presentations will be viewed collectively (in-person at each site and virtually).
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Poster sessions and the tutorial/chatbot kickstarter activity will be led separately at each site and virtually, and then converge in a collective debrief.
Tutorial + Chatbot Kickstarter Activity:
This tutorial will engage attendees in the exploratory development of a chatbot using design- and impact-based methodologies. In the first part, we will walk through a tutorial of how to shape a chatbot using prompt engineering, and discuss design considerations. In the second part, we will break out in small groups to work on a chatbot kickstarter activity. Group facilitators will lead case studies (information provided), such as:
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Language, culture, relatability, and accessibility in the tailoring of chatbots to assist older adults in healthcare
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Managing identity and legacy with personal digital collections
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Engage in participatory collaboration to design learning technologies that identify and are responsive to the needs and preferences of communities that have historically been underserved
You can work together on a case study or bring your own topics to develop further!
The activity will include: identifying and being responsive to the needs and preferences of communities, integrating these into chatbot development, and chatbot evaluation. This is intended as an opportunity to: have a good time, meet new people with similar interests, and collaboratively explore possibilities for future work!
Submission Instructions
Research/practice talk (up to 1500 words): Completed research or works-in-progress, incorporating empirical data and/or conceptual reflections.
Posters (500 words): Obtain feedback on early-stage work! Empirical results are not required.
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Consistent with ASIS&T submission guidelines, the review process will be double-blind. Please do not put your names and affiliations on the first submission.
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You do not need to present anything to participate.
Important Dates
March 10, 2025: submissions due
April 1, 2025: student registration scholarship applications due
April 10, 2025: paper, poster, and scholarship notifications
Student registration scholarships: We will be able to offer 4 student registration scholarships for non-members! If you are a student and interested in applying, please send proof of student status (e.g., student ID with a date visible) and a 300-word statement explaining why you would like to attend and what you hope to learn from it. Please submit your application to
asist.us.west@gmail.com by April 1, 2025.