Speaker: Dr Cassandra Kist, University of Strathclyde
Abstract: Archival institutions are widely perceived as guardians of public knowledge, memory, and historical truth. Yet in an era where AI is reshaping digital access and escalating concerns around bias, privacy, and misinformation, trust is no longer sustained by institutional authority alone. Instead, it must be actively designed into user experiences. This presentation explores how authenticity can be operationalised to sustain public trust during interactions with heritage-based conversational agents.
Drawing on recent research examining case studies of conversational agents (CAs) in museum contexts, I discuss how the emotional, material, and factual dimensions of authentic experiences are negotiated during design decisions. This includes how systems feel (tone, immersion, personality), what materials and people they represent (responsible and accurate portrayals of people and heritage), and the credibility of the information they provide. I show how heritage professionals frame design decisions in ways that support ‘real’ and ‘genuine’ experiences and simultaneously avoid creating inauthentic experiences that could perpetuate visitor mistrust.
I further expand on the potentials and risks of designing conversational agents for authentic heritage engagement based on findings from a survey of museum visitors in the UK. Incorporating a visitor perspective illuminate overlapping and diverging concerns regarding genuine engagement with heritage through conversational agents. By translating these insights to the more sensitive domain of government records, I outline how organisations can create authentic experiences that communicate responsibility, privacy, and accuracy – not only as (essential) technical features but also as elements of user experience.
Bio: Dr Cassandra Kist is a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Strathclyde in Computer and Information Sciences (Glasgow) where she teaches about Human-Computer Interaction and ethical issues in computing. During her PhD research, she was a Marie Curie Fellow in the Horizon 2020 European Union International Training Network POEM (Participatory Memory Practices). Her research combines several disciplines including Anthropology, Digital Cultural Heritage Studies, and Human-Computer Interaction to investigate the overlaps and disconnections between cultural heritage practices, digital platforms, and processes of social inclusion.