Autoethnographic Insights from Neurodivergent GAI “Power Users”
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Jennifer Mankoff, University of Washington
Version: View help for Version V1
Version Title: View help for Version Title V1
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Project Citation:
Mankoff, Jennifer. Autoethnographic Insights from Neurodivergent GAI “Power Users.” Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-05-28. https://doi.org/10.3886/E228641V1
Project Description
Summary:
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Generative AI (AI) has become ubiquitous in both daily and professional life, with emerging research demonstrating its potential as a tool for accessibility. Neurodivergent people, often left out by existing accessibility technologies, develop their own ways of navigating normative expectations. GAI offers new opportunities for access, but it is important to understand how neurodivergent “power users”—successful early adopters—engage with it and the challenges they face. Further, we must understand how marginalization and intersectional identities influence their interactions with GAI. Our autoethnography, enhanced by privacy-preserving GAI-based diaries and interviews, reveals the intricacies of using GAI to navigate normative environments and expectations. Our findings demonstrate how GAI can both support and complicate tasks like code-switching, emotional regulation, and accessing information. We show that GAI can help neurodivergent users to reclaim their agency in systems that diminish their autonomy and self-determination. However, challenges such as balancing authentic self-expression with societal conformity, alongside other risks, create barriers to realizing GAI’s full potential for accessibility.
Funding Sources:
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NIDILRR (90REGE0026)
Scope of Project
Subject Terms:
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accessibility;
neurodiversity;
generative AI;
ethnography
Geographic Coverage:
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USA
Time Period(s):
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3/1/2024 – 8/1/2024 (March through July 2024)
Universe:
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U.S.-based adults with at least a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science who identify as neurodivergent and use GAI regularly for >3 months.
Data Type(s):
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other
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