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AI-Augmented Brainwriting: Investigating the use of LLMs in group ideation

Project Overview

The document examines the incorporation of large language models (LLMs) in educational settings, particularly focusing on their application in the Brainwriting process within a tangible interaction design course. The study reveals that the integration of LLMs significantly enhances both idea generation and evaluation, resulting in more fruitful creative project outcomes. Despite these advantages, it also identifies challenges, including the potential for redundancy in the outputs generated by LLMs and the critical need for effective prompt engineering to optimize their use. Overall, the findings indicate a positive outlook for human-AI collaboration in education, suggesting that when effectively harnessed, generative AI can play a transformative role in enhancing creativity and ideation in academic environments.

Key Applications

Collaborative group-AI Brainwriting framework using LLMs

Context: Advanced undergraduate course on tangible interaction design

Implementation: Students generated ideas using a modified Brainwriting process with LLM support via Conceptboard and OpenAI's GPT-3.

Outcomes: Enhanced idea generation and evaluation, leading to a greater diversity of ideas and higher quality final projects.

Challenges: Redundancy in LLM outputs, difficulties in prompt crafting, and the need for effective integration of AI into the design process.

Implementation Barriers

Technical Barrier

Students struggled with crafting effective prompts for LLMs, impacting the quality of AI-generated ideas.

Proposed Solutions: Develop training materials for prompt engineering and create back-end interfaces for better interaction with LLMs.

Creativity Barrier

LLMs sometimes produced redundant ideas, lacking creativity.

Proposed Solutions: Investigate strategies to enhance novelty in LLM outputs, such as using diverse prompts or encouraging conceptual blending.

Project Team

Orit Shaer

Researcher

Angelora Cooper

Researcher

Osnat Mokryn

Researcher

Andrew L. Kun

Researcher

Hagit Ben Shoshan

Researcher

Contact Information

For information about the paper, please contact the authors.

Authors: Orit Shaer, Angelora Cooper, Osnat Mokryn, Andrew L. Kun, Hagit Ben Shoshan

Source Publication: View Original PaperLink opens in a new window

Project Contact: Dr. Jianhua Yang

LLM Model Version: gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18

Analysis Provider: Openai

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