Technology is no longer something we simply pick up and put down. AI systems now filter what we see, suggest what we decide, and increasingly act on our behalf. As a result, agency is no longer located solely in the human user but is distributed across people, systems and institutions. It became something that can be deliberately designed, measured or negotiated.
This thesis project takes a critical perspective on agency in human-AI interaction. You will examine how different conceptions of agency are embedded in the design of AI-powered systems, and what these conceptions include or exclude. A central tension concerns the gap between computational logics (optimisation, efficiency, prediction) and human and democratic logics (deliberation, disagreement, self-determination).
Depending on the focus of the project the following courses are recommended: IN5000, IN5510, IN4420
Depending on the focus of the assignment, the following courses are recommended: IN5000 (for methodology), IN5510 (for PD), IN5120 and IN4xxx/3010 (for design), IN5090 and IN5620 (for data and indicators), and IN4220 (for understanding use).
Resources:
Bennett, D., Metatla, O., Roudaut, A., & Mekler, E. D. (2023). How does HCI Understand Human Agency and Autonomy? CHI 2023.
Verbeek, P.-P. (2011). Moralizing Technology: Understanding and Designing the Morality of Things. University of Chicago Press.
Suchman, L. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Cambridge University Press.
Culén, A. L., Niess, J., de Carvalho, A. F. P., Caspersen, A. A., Jarsve, T., Joshi, S. G., ... & Woźniak, P. W. (2026, June). The Misalignment of Technology, Democracy, and Design: A Scoping Review. In Proceedings of the 2026 Designing Interactive Systems Conference (pp. 2595-2612).