TwIPS: A Large Language Model Powered Texting Application to Simplify Conversational Nuances for Autistic Users
Rukhshan Haroon, Fahad Dogar

TL;DR
TwIPS is an LLM-powered texting app designed to help autistic users interpret and convey emotional nuances, improving communication clarity and reducing mental effort in social interactions.
Contribution
This paper introduces TwIPS, a novel AI-assisted texting application tailored for autistic users to enhance emotional understanding and expression in digital communication.
Findings
TwIPS helps users clarify message tone and meaning.
It offers better alternatives to tone indicators.
Participants found it facilitated reflection on their writing style.
Abstract
Autistic individuals often experience difficulties in conveying and interpreting emotional tone and non-literal nuances. Many also mask their communication style to avoid being misconstrued by others, spending considerable time and mental effort in the process. To address these challenges in text-based communication, we present TwIPS, a prototype texting application powered by a large language model (LLM), which can assist users with: a) deciphering tone and meaning of incoming messages, b) ensuring the emotional tone of their message is in line with their intent, and c) coming up with alternate phrasing for messages that could be misconstrued and received negatively by others. We leverage an AI-based simulation and a conversational script to evaluate TwIPS with 8 autistic participants in an in-lab setting. Our findings show TwIPS enables a convenient way for participants to seek…
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsAI in Service Interactions · Assistive Technology in Communication and Mobility
