Three lessons from citizen-centric participatory AI design

Abstract

This workshop paper examines challenges in designing agentic AI systems from a citizen-centric perspective. Drawing on three participatory workshops conducted in 2025 with members of the general public and cross-sector stakeholders, we explore how societal values and expectations shape visions of future AI agents. Using constructive design research methods, participants engaged in storytelling and lo-fi prototyping to reflect on potential community impacts. We identify three key challenges: enabling meaningful and sustained public engagement, establishing a shared language between experts and lay participants, and translating speculative participant input into implementable systems. We argue that reflexive, long-term participation is essential for responsible and actionable citizen-centric AI development.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Eike Schneiders: orcid.org/0000-0002-8372-1684

ORCID for Sarah Kiden: orcid.org/0000-0003-2651-9620

ORCID for Bruno Rafael Queiros Arcanjo: orcid.org/0000-0003-0783-8394

ORCID for Zhaoxing Li: orcid.org/0000-0003-3560-3461

ORCID for Vahid Yazdanpanah: orcid.org/0000-0002-4468-6193

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