Reimagining Personal Data: Unlocking the Potential of AI-Generated Images in Personal Data Meaning-Making

TL;DR

The paper investigates how AI-generated images can transform personal data into a medium for meaning-making. It combines an autobiographical-design formative study with a technology probe and a 21-day diary study involving 16 participants to derive prompt rules and assess experiences. The findings reveal four themes—emotional layering, self-reconceptualization, narrative crafting, and curiosity-driven self-tracking—and highlight co-interpretation as a key design principle for deepened reflection. The work offers design implications for leveraging image-generative AI to foster reflective engagement with personal data while acknowledging concerns about uncertainty and emotional impact, with potential for new forms of digital possession and wellbeing support.

Abstract

Image-generative AI provides new opportunities to transform personal data into alternative visual forms. In this paper, we illustrate the potential of AI-generated images in facilitating meaningful engagement with personal data. In a formative autobiographical design study, we explored the design and use of AI-generated images derived from personal data. Informed by this study, we designed a web-based application as a probe that represents personal data through generative images utilizing Open AI's GPT-4 model and DALL-E 3. We then conducted a 21-day diary study and interviews using the probe with 16 participants to investigate users' in-depth experiences with images generated by AI in everyday lives. Our findings reveal new qualities of experiences in users' engagement with data, highlighting how participants constructed personal meaning from their data through imagination and speculation on AI-generated images. We conclude by discussing the potential and concerns of leveraging image-generative AI for personal data meaning-making.

Figures (15)

• Figure 1: Study process. The study consists of two phases: an autobiographical design as a formative study and a probe-based diary study as the main study.
• Figure 2: Autobiographical Design Process of Step 1: Experimentation with an Image Generation Model; (a) Example of prompt. (b) Example of generated image.
• Figure 3: Autobiographical Design Process of Step 2: Creation of Images; (a) Collection of various generated images. (b) First author’s documentation. (We illustrate how images and the first author’s reflections were documented without revealing private content.)
• Figure 4: (a) Image generated by first author’s music history data and written reflection (Day 7). (b) Multiple images generated with first author’s mood tracking data (Day 12).
• Figure 5: Images generated by first author’s physical activity and sleep data.