Mind Modeling: A ToM-Based Framework for Personalization

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new user modeling framework based on Theory of Mind, called mind modeling, which explicitly attributes mental states to improve personalization in socially situated interactions.

Contribution

It introduces M3, a unified framework for continuous mental-state attribution and demonstrates its application in embodied interaction scenarios.

Findings

Mind modeling enhances interpretability of user models.

M3 enables continuous updating of mental-state hypotheses.

Initial implementation shows promise in embodied interactions.

Abstract

User modeling has traditionally relied on inferring preferences, traits, or intents from observable behaviour. While effective in many adaptive systems, this paradigm treats behaviour as the primary object of modeling and leaves mental-state attribution implicit. This assumption becomes limiting in socially situated and longitudinal interaction, where behaviour must be interpreted in context and over time. We introduce mind modeling, a perspective in which user modeling is grounded in the explicit and revisable attribution of mental states, including beliefs, intentions, emotions, and knowledge. Drawing on Theory of Mind (ToM), this approach treats behaviour as evidence for hypotheses about internal states, supporting personalization that is more interpretable and coherent across interaction episodes. We present M3, a conceptual framework that integrates perception, mentalisation, and action within a unified structure, enabling the continuous update of mental-state hypotheses in embodied interaction. We further illustrate this perspective through an embodied interaction trace, providing an initial operationalization of mind modeling in practice.