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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.00161 |
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| _version_ | 1866913919900057600 |
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| author | Wegemer, Christopher M. Halim, Edward Burke, Jeff |
| author_facet | Wegemer, Christopher M. Halim, Edward Burke, Jeff |
| contents | Political polarization undermines democratic civic education by exacerbating identity-based resistance to opposing viewpoints. Emerging AI technologies offer new opportunities to advance interventions that reduce polarization and promote political open-mindedness. We examined novel design strategies that leverage adaptive and emotionally-responsive civic narratives that may sustain students' emotional engagement in stories, and in turn, promote perspective-taking toward members of political out-groups. Drawing on theories from political psychology and narratology, we investigate how affective computing techniques can support three storytelling mechanisms: transportation into a story world, identification with characters, and interaction with the storyteller. Using a design-based research (DBR) approach, we iteratively developed and refined an AI-mediated Digital Civic Storytelling (AI-DCS) platform. Our prototype integrates facial emotion recognition and attention tracking to assess users' affective and attentional states in real time. Narrative content is organized around pre-structured story outlines, with beat-by-beat language adaptation implemented via GPT-4, personalizing linguistic tone to sustain students' emotional engagement in stories that center political perspectives different from their own. Our work offers a foundation for AI-supported, emotionally-sensitive strategies that address affective polarization while preserving learner autonomy. We conclude with implications for civic education interventions, algorithmic literacy, and HCI challenges associated with AI dialogue management and affect-adaptive learning environments. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_00161 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Designing an Adaptive Storytelling Platform to Promote Civic Education in Politically Polarized Learning Environments Wegemer, Christopher M. Halim, Edward Burke, Jeff Human-Computer Interaction Artificial Intelligence Political polarization undermines democratic civic education by exacerbating identity-based resistance to opposing viewpoints. Emerging AI technologies offer new opportunities to advance interventions that reduce polarization and promote political open-mindedness. We examined novel design strategies that leverage adaptive and emotionally-responsive civic narratives that may sustain students' emotional engagement in stories, and in turn, promote perspective-taking toward members of political out-groups. Drawing on theories from political psychology and narratology, we investigate how affective computing techniques can support three storytelling mechanisms: transportation into a story world, identification with characters, and interaction with the storyteller. Using a design-based research (DBR) approach, we iteratively developed and refined an AI-mediated Digital Civic Storytelling (AI-DCS) platform. Our prototype integrates facial emotion recognition and attention tracking to assess users' affective and attentional states in real time. Narrative content is organized around pre-structured story outlines, with beat-by-beat language adaptation implemented via GPT-4, personalizing linguistic tone to sustain students' emotional engagement in stories that center political perspectives different from their own. Our work offers a foundation for AI-supported, emotionally-sensitive strategies that address affective polarization while preserving learner autonomy. We conclude with implications for civic education interventions, algorithmic literacy, and HCI challenges associated with AI dialogue management and affect-adaptive learning environments. |
| title | Designing an Adaptive Storytelling Platform to Promote Civic Education in Politically Polarized Learning Environments |
| topic | Human-Computer Interaction Artificial Intelligence |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.00161 |