Abstract
The adoption of generative AI in heritage storytelling has revealed hidden tensions among stakeholders due to competing values. To investigate how design research can negotiate values differences, we conducted a three-session qualitative study surrounding the “Kawagoe Festival” in a bottom-up, three stakeholder-group setting. Session 1 used photo-elicitation to ground memories; Session 2 adopted human–AI image co-creation to explore past representations and speculative futures; while Session 3 facilitated reflective discussion. Grounded theory analysis identifies three values shaping GenAI-mediated co-creation: authenticity as a symbolic baseline, vividness as the enrichment of remembered details, and engagement as enabler of iterative, playful participation. Stakeholders balanced these values differently, thereby demonstrating AI mediation’s multiple affordances. GenAI promoted value transparency, yet also led to group polarisation when competing values such as authenticity and engagement collided. The study contributes a framework for value negotiation and offers design implications for socially engaged AI.
Keywords
cultural heritage storytelling; human–AI co-creation; value negotiation; stakeholder engagement
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1145
Citation
Song, Z., Chen, S., Sato, C., and Wagner, C. (2026) Negotiating authenticity, vividness, and engagement: A design framework for GenAI in heritage co-creation, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1145
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Negotiating authenticity, vividness, and engagement: A design framework for GenAI in heritage co-creation
The adoption of generative AI in heritage storytelling has revealed hidden tensions among stakeholders due to competing values. To investigate how design research can negotiate values differences, we conducted a three-session qualitative study surrounding the “Kawagoe Festival” in a bottom-up, three stakeholder-group setting. Session 1 used photo-elicitation to ground memories; Session 2 adopted human–AI image co-creation to explore past representations and speculative futures; while Session 3 facilitated reflective discussion. Grounded theory analysis identifies three values shaping GenAI-mediated co-creation: authenticity as a symbolic baseline, vividness as the enrichment of remembered details, and engagement as enabler of iterative, playful participation. Stakeholders balanced these values differently, thereby demonstrating AI mediation’s multiple affordances. GenAI promoted value transparency, yet also led to group polarisation when competing values such as authenticity and engagement collided. The study contributes a framework for value negotiation and offers design implications for socially engaged AI.