Human Interactions with Artificial Intelligences: Research Agendas for Education, Health, Creative Expression, and Governance

Although organizations are developing and applying artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in many domains, such as education, health, creative expression, and governance, organizations do not yet collectively agree on useful research questions to guide future inquiry about roles for humans amidst AI. We need empirical evidence comparing different technologies and approaches and assessing both intended effects and unintended consequences. In this paper, we present both substantive findings and methodological lessons learned to illustrate how human and AI-enabled processes together can inform agenda-setting in emerging areas of inquiry. We also spotlight key questions we should be asking about roles for humans amidst societal changes involving AI. We designed and implemented a network-building and agenda-generating effort in fall 2025 to generate key research questions. As part of a hybrid online and in-person event involving nearly 500 participants, 178 in-person attendees participated in one of 23 in-person discussion groups, each moderated by a facilitator with social science research experience and group interviewing skills. Following the discussions, multiple teams of analysts used AI tools and group discussion to summarize key questions from the convening. Across teams, recurring dilemmas, opportunities, and questions emerged, including questions involving comparisons and tradeoffs among different goals for AI use, variations in how people may experience or be affected by AI, and how to optimize human-AI interactions to accomplish tasks. Iterative review and human judgment at multiple stages demonstrated value in all analyses, regardless of the specific AI tools employed, illustrating how human-in-the-loop design can be useful.

Duke Scholars

Author Brian Glen Southwell Medicine, General Internal Medicine