{"id":1163447,"date":"2026-03-06T07:12:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T15:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-research-item&#038;p=1163447"},"modified":"2026-03-06T07:13:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T15:13:51","slug":"tools-for-thought-understanding-protecting-and-augmenting-human-cognition-with-generative-ai-from-vision-to-implementation","status":"publish","type":"msr-research-item","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/publication\/tools-for-thought-understanding-protecting-and-augmenting-human-cognition-with-generative-ai-from-vision-to-implementation\/","title":{"rendered":"Tools for Thought: Understanding, Protecting, and Augmenting Human Cognition with Generative AI \u2014 From Vision to Implementation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>About this CHI 2026 workshop:<\/strong> GenAI radically widens the scope and capability of automation for work, learning, and creativity. While impactful, it also changes workflows, raising questions about its effects on cognition, including critical thinking and learning. Yet GenAI also offers opportunities for designing \u201ctools for thought\u201d (TfT) that protect and augment cognition. Such systems provoke critical thinking, provide personalized tutoring, or enable novel ways of sensemaking, among other approaches.<\/p>\n<p>How does GenAI change workflows and human cognition? What are opportunities and challenges for designing GenAI systems that protect and augment thinking? Which theories, perspectives, and methods are relevant? This workshop aims to develop a multidisciplinary community interested in exploring these questions to protect against the erosion, and fuel the augmentation, of human cognition using GenAI.<\/p>\n<p>This workshop is a follow-up to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/publication\/tools-for-thought-research-and-design-for-understanding-protecting-and-augmenting-human-cognition-with-generative-ai\/\">CHI 2025 Tools for Thought workshop<\/a>, which brought together 56 participants with 34 accepted submissions, culminating in a workshop synthesis and an HCI journal special issue on tools for thought. While last year\u2019s workshop focussed on mapping the field, this edition moves towards developing operational frameworks, principles, and tools.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Proposal Abstract:<\/strong> Building on the first Tools for Thought (TfT) workshop at CHI 2025, we invite researchers, designers, and practitioners to further operationalise approaches for the design, usage, and evaluation of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) as a TfT. The first goal of the workshop is to put into focus which <em>outcomes<\/em> a TfT should help people achieve to effectively augment their cognition while avoiding its erosion. Secondly, we will explore how to achieve these outcomes through design and usage <em>strategies<\/em>. Third, the workshop will also address what a TfT needs for its successful <em>adoption<\/em> and integration into people&#8217;s flow, so that they can benefit from the tools&#8217; potential in their own terms. By focussing on these three research goals, the workshop aims to further develop and advance the multidisciplinary TfT community interested in exploring research frameworks, theories, methods, and approaches to conceptualising, designing, and researching GenAI as a TfT.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Workshop website:<\/strong> <a class=\"msr-external-link glyph-append glyph-append-open-in-new-tab glyph-append-xsmall\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ai-tools-for-thought.github.io\/workshop\/\">https:\/\/ai-tools-for-thought.github.io\/workshop\/<span class=\"sr-only\"> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About this CHI 2026 workshop: GenAI radically widens the scope and capability of automation for work, learning, and creativity. While impactful, it also changes workflows, raising questions about its effects on cognition, including critical thinking and learning. Yet GenAI also offers opportunities for designing \u201ctools for thought\u201d (TfT) that protect and augment cognition. Such systems [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","msr-author-ordering":null,"msr_publishername":"ACM","msr_publisher_other":"","msr_booktitle":"","msr_chapter":"","msr_edition":"","msr_editors":"","msr_how_published":"","msr_isbn":"","msr_issue":"","msr_journal":"","msr_number":"","msr_organization":"","msr_pages_string":"","msr_page_range_start":"","msr_page_range_end":"","msr_series":"","msr_volume":"","msr_copyright":"","msr_conference_name":"ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 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16:28:04","post_status":"publish","permalink":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/tools-for-thought\/","post_excerpt":"Better thinking through AIA People-Centric AI Project \"What would you rather have: a tool that thinks for you, or a tool that makes you think?\" Senior Researcher Advait Sarkar presented at TEDAI (opens in new tab) in Vienna on September 26th 2025. \u00a9 TEDAI Vienna \/ Robert Leslie Many AI tools focus on solving specific tasks like content generation or process automation. 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