Antagonistic AI

The vast majority of discourse around AI development assumes that subservient, "moral" models aligned with "human values" are universally beneficial -- in short, that good AI is sycophantic AI. We explore the shadow of the sycophantic paradigm, a design space we term antagonistic AI: AI systems that are disagreeable, rude, interrupting, confrontational, challenging, etc. -- embedding opposite behaviors or values. Far from being "bad" or "immoral," we consider whether antagonistic AI systems may sometimes have benefits to users, such as forcing users to confront their assumptions, build resilience, or develop healthier relational boundaries. Drawing from formative explorations and a speculative design workshop where participants designed fictional AI technologies that employ antagonism, we lay out a design space for antagonistic AI, articulating potential benefits, design techniques, and methods of embedding antagonistic elements into user experience. Finally, we discuss the many ethical challenges of this space and identify three dimensions for the responsible design of antagonistic AI -- consent, context, and framing.

AtomXR: Streamlined XR Prototyping with Natural Language and Immersive Physical Interaction

As technological advancements in extended reality (XR) amplify the demand for more XR content, traditional development processes face several challenges: 1) a steep learning curve for inexperienced developers, 2) a disconnect between 2D development environments and 3D user experiences inside headsets, and 3) slow iteration cycles due to context switching between development and testing environments. To address these challenges, we introduce AtomXR, a streamlined, immersive, no-code XR prototyping tool designed to empower both experienced and inexperienced developers in creating applications using natural language, eye-gaze, and touch interactions. AtomXR consists of: 1) AtomScript, a high-level human-interpretable scripting language for rapid prototyping, 2) a natural language interface that integrates LLMs and multimodal inputs for AtomScript generation, and 3) an immersive in-headset authoring environment. Empirical evaluation through two user studies offers insights into natural language-based and immersive prototyping, and shows AtomXR provides significant improvements in speed and user experience compared to traditional systems.