To Co- Is Human: Designing Technologies That Center Human Connection, Co-creativity, and Calm in the Era of AI
Name
dhariwal-shrutid-PhD-MAS-2025-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
Size
30.67 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
aad2e5b4e7997c15264f8df7f31ac8e4
Author(s)
Dhariwal, Shruti
Advisor(s)
Resnick, Mitch
Date Issued
May 2025
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
In an era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly framed as our “companions” and “co-creators,” this dissertation reclaims “co-” as a fundamental marker of shared human experience—using it as a foundation to reimagine and build technologies that consciously center interhuman connection and co-creativity. Central to this work, we’ve developed CoCo (coco.build)—a general-purpose, real-time co-creative learning platform that empowers young people to engage in a wide variety of safe, shared creative experiences with their peers, spanning creative computing, AI education, digital art, writing, and more. Through the platform, we showcase how digital environments can move beyond isolated modes of learning and creating to support multiple ways of being creative together with others—introducing a new paradigm for real-time digital collaboration. We further illuminate how CoCo has been envisioned as a “self-less” social platform that de-emphasizes comparison-based, self-centric metrics (profiles, likes, followers) prevalent in most online systems for youth. We anchor these interconnected ideas in a unifying theme of “Being. Creative. Together.”—reflecting timeless values that have become especially timely in an era when AI tools can further accentuate individualized digital experiences for young people. We supplement the broader design, technical, practical, and pedagogical contributions of this work by sharing insights and feedback from pilots with over 2,000 young people and educators across diverse settings. Ultimately, we see this dissertation as both a contribution and a call—to preserve the human essence of co-, to distinguish it from the useful, powerful, but instrumental AI interactions, and to shape digital environments that nurture young people’s capacity to co-imagine, co-create, co-learn, co-exist, and co-evolve—with and through one another.
Note: This work has been co-developed with Manuj Dhariwal. See https://coco.build/thesis for suggested citation and updates on this work.
MIT Department
Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
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