Reclaiming Power over AI: Equipping Queer Teens as AI Designers for HIV Prevention

TL;DR

This paper advocates for empowering queer teens as active designers of AI tools for HIV prevention, emphasizing participatory approaches to create equitable, bias-mitigating AI solutions tailored to LGBTQ+ youth needs.

Contribution

It introduces a community-engaged framework for queer adolescents to co-design AI health tools, addressing bias and promoting equitable HIV prevention strategies.

Findings

Queer teens can effectively co-design AI tools for HIV prevention.

Participatory frameworks can reduce biases in AI health applications.

Community engagement enhances relevance and equity in AI health solutions.

Abstract

In this position paper, we explore the potential of generative AI (GenAI) tools in supporting HIV prevention initiatives among LGBTQ+ adolescents. GenAI offers opportunities to bridge information gaps and enhance healthcare access, yet it also risks exacerbating existing inequities through biased AI outputs reflecting heteronormative and cisnormative values. We advocate for the importance of queer adolescent-centered interventions, contend with the promise of GenAI tools while addressing concerns of bias, and position participatory frameworks for empowering queer youth in the design and development of AI tools. Viewing LGBTQ+ adolescents as designers, we propose a community-engaged approach to enable a group of queer teens with sexual health education expertise to design their own GenAI health tools. Through this collaborative effort, we put forward participatory ways to develop processes minimizing the potential iatrogenic harms of biased AI models, while harnessing AI benefits for LGBTQ+ teens. In this workshop, we offer specialized community-engaged knowledge in designing equitable AI tools to improve LGBTQ+ well-being.