Zoya Yasmine https://betterimagesofai.org Better Images of AI https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Creative Commons License – This image shows a large white, traditional, old building. The top half of the building represents the humanities (which is symbolised by the embedded text from classic literature which is faintly shown on top the building). The bottom section of the building is embossed with mathematical formulas to represent the sciences. The middle layer of the image is heavily pixelated. On the steps at the front of the building there is a group of scholars, wearing formal suits and tie attire, who are standing around at the entrance talking and some of them are sitting on the steps. There are two stone, statute-like hands that are stretching the building apart from the left side. In the forefront of the image, there are 8 students – which can only be seen from the back. Their graduation gowns have bright blue hoods and they all look as though they are walking towards the old building which is in the background at a distance. There are a mix of students in the foreground.

NordiCHI 2026 - Speculative AI Futures Workshop

Generative artificial intelligence (genAI) could be considered a hot topic of scholarly practices: Some researchers are turning to editorials, opinion pieces, and articles to either denounce or encourage the use of genAI in knowledge production processes (e.g. Jowsey et al. 2025, Nguyen and Welch 2025, Anis and French 2023). Meanwhile, the promise of increased efficiency may create a sense of necessity around adopting these tools for everyone else (Bin-Nashwan et al. 2023). As general application tools, the use of genAI is already shaping research processes, the peer review system, and higher education (Barros, Prasad, and Sliwa 2023).

With this workshop, we want to welcome HCI researchers and educators for a discussion and reflection on two areas of genAI impact in academia: Research practices and teaching. Drawing on speculative design and fabulation methods, we invite participants to imagine diverse futures for these areas of academia. Through reflection and design exercises we want to enable participants to discuss questions such as: At which points might academia resist or embrace generative artificial intelligence? How might processes of scholarly production be shaped by the introduction of this technology? What are the roles and responsibilities of researchers and educators in these scenarios?

We call on interested participants to submit a short position paper of 1000–1500 words, reflecting on their own experiences with genAI in their teaching or research practices. Choosing one focus area — research or education, participants should consider the following questions in their submission:

How are your own theoretical, methodological or pedagogical approaches currently impacted by genAI?
Did you observe changes in your own research / teaching practices? How have they changed?
What motivates you to engage with impact of genAI on research / teaching practices?
What would you like to do differently? How would you like to change your own practices or the approaches in your field?

This call for participation is open for all HCI researchers and educators, interested in exploring (im)possible futures and speculative practices surrounding genAI technology in their work. Position papers should be submitted via email until July 26th, 2026 (AoE). All submissions go through a light review by the organising team, who make a selection based on the thematic fit of the submitted papers. Potential participants will be notified via email by August 7th, 2026 (AoE).

SUBMIT YOUR POSITION PAPER

QUESTIONS & CONTACT

Key Details and Workshop Outline

Date: Sunday, October 4th 2026

Time: 14:00 - 17:30

Venue: Academill building, Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa Campus, Vaasa - Room TBA

Address: Åbo Akademi University, Rantakatu 2, 65100 Vaasa

Deadline for Application: 26.07.2026 (AoE)

Notification of Participation: 07.08.2026 (AoE)

Workshop Outline

At the workshop, we explore academia in 2046 through an exhibition of speculative artefacts from the future. To give you an idea of what to expect, you can find a rough outline below:

Introductions to the topic and each other
Imagining speculative scenarios through brainwriting
Building artefacts from the future
Visiting an exhibition of future artefacts
Reflections and closing

The Organisation Team

Konstantin Lackner, is a doctoral candidate at Participatory IT Design at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering \& Computer Science at the University of Kassel, Germany. His background is in Human-Computer Interaction, in his research he currently focuses on the effects GenAI systems have on their users. In his teaching revolves around introductory CS courses that try to engage students in critical thinking, usually also on the topic of GenAI.

Lea Stöter is a doctoral candidate at the Participatory IT Design department at the University of Kassel, Germany. Their interdisciplinary research focus on the intersection of the humanities, social sciences and informatics. Their research draws on themes from new media studies, feminist epistemology, and software studies, focusing on the intra-actions of knowledge production, research processes, and AI-driven software.

Claude Draude is Professor for Participatory IT Design at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Kassel, Germany. Grounded in design and artistic research, her work brings computer science, media studies, and the humanities into a sustained interdisciplinary dialog. She investigates how knowledge in a world shaped by computing emerges relationally within more-than-human assemblages.