AI with Heart: A Joy-Centered Framework for Ethical AI Development & Implementation
Desmond Upton Patton¹² / Shana Kleiner¹² / Shug Miller¹ / Nicholas Deas³ / Jessica A. Grieser⁴ / James Shepard⁵ / Blake Vente³ / Kathleen McKeown³
DOI : 10.65701/x5v0c2z9m1
Corresponding authors:
dupatton@upenn.edu • skleiner@upenn.edu
Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) equally offers possibilities for social cohesion and for further division amongst communities. This paper presents findings from Integrating Emotional Stories Online (IESO), a pseudo-social media platform developed by computer scientists, linguists, and social work researchers, with the main goals of fostering community and analyzing digital expressions of grief and distress. We explore the pedagogical potential of AI to amplify joy as a tool for managing complex emotions, fostering more nuanced and compassionate interactions online.
We recruited 125 Black Harlem residents and students from a large New York City university, employing a mixed-methods approach to examine 949 posts of grief and distress. Our analysis yielded four themes: interpersonal grief, institutional systemic losses, and everyday stressors. The final theme, Joy, included gratitude for overcoming challenges, relational connectedness, and reflections on personal achievements. On IESO, joy emerged as crucial for emotional healing in the face of interpersonal and systemic losses. Thus, this paper aims to tackle three main questions regarding AI development and implementation that involve ethicists, developers, and researchers: 1) How does joy currently shape AI development/use?; 2) How could joy shape generative AI tools and create pathways for connection online?; 3) How should joy shape AI development/use? In other words, can we train LLMs to empower marginalized communities?
By centering joy as a communicative force online, the findings from IESO raise the question of how AI can be leveraged to support a shift on social media from an arena of polarization to one of joyful engagement.
