News – Morrison-Smith Presents Paper on Human-AI Collaboration

Source Domain: www.hamilton.edu

Assistant Professor of Computer Science Sarah Morrison-Smith recently presented a research paper, “SQuID: Investigating Human-AI Collaboration through an Interactive Affinity Diagramming Tool,” at the Graphics Interface 2026 conference in Waterloo, Ontario. The project included Hamilton class of 2024 alumni Yifan Wu, Matthew Maillet, and Sebastian Favela, along with Luíza Leschziner of Barnard College and Columbia University faculty member Lydia Chilton.

Presented in a session on “Minds in the Loop,” the paper introduced Systematic Qualitative Information Diagramme (SQuID), a tool that uses artificial intelligence to help researchers organize and analyze large amounts of qualitative data. It examined the increasing use of qualitative data analysis on large datasets and the challenges it poses for traditional methods of interpretation. Though AI systems can assist with data analysis in the initial stages, the researchers said that questions about control and accountability remain.

The team tested SQuID with 13 participants who used the tool to complete short data-analysis tasks. They examined how people responded to AI-generated suggestions, including when they chose to accept or reject them.

Participants reported that SQuID reduced the effort required for repetitive tasks, but they also raised questions about how AI-assisted decisions could be explained and justified. Based on these findings, the researchers offered recommendations for designing AI tools that improve efficiency while maintaining transparency and human oversight.

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