Maarten Houben

Yuhui Xu, Isabel Blijenburg, Bhakti Moghe et al.

International students face struggles when adapting to the host country. They are more susceptible to mental health problems than domestic students. While Conversational User Interfaces (CUIs) are increasingly researched and implemented, research on how they may help international university students is still scarce. Thus, we conducted participatory design workshops with international students who shared their perspectives and struggles of studying abroad, in which they also envisioned CUIs as aids to support their transitions. Participants proposed features of a CUI to address uncertainty, loneliness, and misunderstandings of cultural differences. Our paper reveals international students' needs and provides design implications for CUIs to support their well-being.

T. T. J. E. Arets, G. Perugia, M. Houben et al.

Reduced social connectedness increasingly poses a threat to mental health, life expectancy, and general well-being. Generative AI (GAI) technologies, such as large language models (LLMs) and image generation tools, are increasingly integrated into applications aimed at enhancing human social experiences. Despite their growing presence, little is known about how these technologies influence social interactions. This scoping review investigates how GAI-based applications are currently designed to facilitate social interaction, what forms of social engagement they target, and which design and evaluation methodologies designers use to create and evaluate them. Through an analysis of 30 studies published since 2020, we identify key trends in application domains including storytelling, socio-emotional skills training, reminiscence, collaborative learning, music making, and general conversation. We highlight the role of participatory and co-design approaches in fostering both effective technology use and social engagement, while also examining socio-ethical concerns such as cultural bias and accessibility. This review underscores the potential of GAI to support dynamic and personalized interactions, but calls for greater attention to equitable design practices and inclusive evaluation strategies.