An Autoethnographic Case Study of Generative Artificial Intelligence's Utility for Accessibility

TL;DR

This autoethnographic study explores how generative AI tools can enhance accessibility for people with disabilities, revealing diverse benefits and concerns such as verifiability and ableism.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed autoethnographic account of GAI's utility and challenges for accessibility from the perspective of researchers with disabilities.

Findings

GAI offers various accessibility benefits

Concerns about verifiability and training data

Risks of ableism and false promises

Abstract

With the recent rapid rise in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) tools, it is imperative that we understand their impact on people with disabilities, both positive and negative. However, although we know that AI in general poses both risks and opportunities for people with disabilities, little is known specifically about GAI in particular. To address this, we conducted a three-month autoethnography of our use of GAI to meet personal and professional needs as a team of researchers with and without disabilities. Our findings demonstrate a wide variety of potential accessibility-related uses for GAI while also highlighting concerns around verifiability, training data, ableism, and false promises.