Observe, Ask, Intervene: Designing AI Agents for More Inclusive Meetings

TL;DR

This paper presents the design and testing of an AI-based virtual co-host system that aims to promote inclusivity in meetings by observing behaviors, asking questions, and intervening when necessary, based on user-centered design insights.

Contribution

It introduces the Observe, Ask, Intervene (OAI) framework for AI agents in meetings and provides methodological and design guidelines for fostering inclusive group interactions.

Findings

Participants preferred OAI over full automation.

Participants rationalized away critical feedback from the AI.

Guidelines for designing AI to influence behavior and reduce inequity.

Abstract

Video conferencing meetings are more effective when they are inclusive, but inclusion often hinges on meeting leaders' and/or co-facilitators' practices. AI systems can be designed to improve meeting inclusion at scale by moderating negative meeting behaviors and supporting meeting leaders. We explored this design space by conducting $9$ user-centered ideation sessions, instantiating design insights in a prototype ``virtual co-host'' system, and testing the system in a formative exploratory lab study ($n=68$ across $12$ groups, $18$ interviews). We found that ideation session participants wanted AI agents to ask questions before intervening, which we formalized as the ``Observe, Ask, Intervene'' (OAI) framework. Participants who used our prototype preferred OAI over fully autonomous intervention, but rationalized away the virtual co-host's critical feedback. From these findings, we derive guidelines for designing AI agents to influence behavior and mediate group work. We also contribute methodological and design guidelines specific to mitigating inequitable meeting participation.