Reflecting on Creative-Boundaries with an AI Co-Doodler

2026-10-04

AI Summary

This study investigates how the negotiation of creative boundaries in human-AI co-creation stimulates user reflection. Based on the Froggi-Draw collaborative drawing system, we conducted a one-week participatory user study employing a single-dominance interaction paradigm. We propose a "supportive power dynamics" design perspective that grants users flexible control over AI contribution levels. The findings reveal the mechanisms underlying power dynamics and boundary negotiation during collaboration, elucidating users' coping strategies when facing creative risks and the temporal evolution of their perceptions toward AI. Ultimately, this work provides a novel paradigm for designing power distribution in human-AI collaborative creation systems.

Abstract

In this pictorial, we consider how the negotiation of creative boundaries with a co-creative AI system can create moments for personal creative reflection. We ground this in our experiences with Froggi-Draw, a single-initiative co-doodling system that gives users power to decide when and how much an AI"collaborator"(Froggi) contributes to their drawing. From a 1-week pilot study where (n=8) novice and experienced artists doodled daily with the system, we report on ways participants navigated creative risk and uncertainty, and how their usage and perceptions of Froggi shifted over time. In moments of disruption, participants described the system as encroaching on their creative territory. We consider how the design of a supportive, co-creative AI"collaborator"might look like the design of a supportive power dynamic---and finding ways to offer users control to find, reflect upon, and flexibly negotiate the boundaries of that dynamic.

Problem

• co-creative AI
• creative boundaries
• human-AI collaboration
• creative reflection

Innovation

• co-creative AI
• single-initiative system
• creative boundaries
• human-AI collaboration
• user control