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Do We Need Responsible XR? Drawing on Responsible AI to Inform Ethical Research and Practice into XRAI / the Metaverse

Mark McGill, Joseph O'Hagan, Thomas Goodge, Graham Wilson, Mohamed Khamis, Veronika Krauß, Jan Gugenheimer

TL;DR

Do We Need Responsible XR? argues that the mass adoption of wearable AI-enabled AR/XR creates vulnerabilities distinct from traditional AI use, warranting a dedicated Responsible XR framework alongside Responsible AI. The paper synthesizes potential harms across privacy, shared reality, skills, communication, place, access, agency, and realism, drawing on lessons from Responsible AI. It proposes concrete research-practice directions—scenario-based elicitation, ethics statements, risk repositories, and perceptual rights—to guide safer XR deployment. This position aims to mobilize HCI, industry, and policy toward interdisciplinary governance that can shape ethical, reliable, and inclusive XR in the Metaverse.

Abstract

This position paper for the CHI 2025 workshop "Everyday AR through AI-in-the-Loop" reflects on whether as a field HCI needs to define Responsible XR as a parallel to, and in conjunction with, Responsible AI, addressing the unique vulnerabilities posed by mass adoption of wearable AI-enabled AR glasses and XR devices that could enact AI-driven human perceptual augmentation.

Do We Need Responsible XR? Drawing on Responsible AI to Inform Ethical Research and Practice into XRAI / the Metaverse

TL;DR

Do We Need Responsible XR? argues that the mass adoption of wearable AI-enabled AR/XR creates vulnerabilities distinct from traditional AI use, warranting a dedicated Responsible XR framework alongside Responsible AI. The paper synthesizes potential harms across privacy, shared reality, skills, communication, place, access, agency, and realism, drawing on lessons from Responsible AI. It proposes concrete research-practice directions—scenario-based elicitation, ethics statements, risk repositories, and perceptual rights—to guide safer XR deployment. This position aims to mobilize HCI, industry, and policy toward interdisciplinary governance that can shape ethical, reliable, and inclusive XR in the Metaverse.

Abstract

This position paper for the CHI 2025 workshop "Everyday AR through AI-in-the-Loop" reflects on whether as a field HCI needs to define Responsible XR as a parallel to, and in conjunction with, Responsible AI, addressing the unique vulnerabilities posed by mass adoption of wearable AI-enabled AR glasses and XR devices that could enact AI-driven human perceptual augmentation.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 10 sections.

Table of Contents

  1. XRAI and the Future Augmented Society
  2. The Death of Mental and Bystander Privacy
  3. The Death of a Common, Shared Reality
  4. The Death of Human Core Skills
  5. The Death of Real Human Communication
  6. When a Place Becomes an Augmented Void
  7. Exacerbating Access Inequality
  8. The Death of Agency and Autonomy
  9. When the Virtual Becomes Too Real
  10. The Need to Define Responsible XR?