Dr. Nigel Newbutt on AiCoVE, Empathy, and the Future of Neurodiverse Collaboration
Dr. Nigel Newbutt is at the forefront of advancing learning technologies while focusing on the human-computer interaction. One of Dr. Newbutt’s current projects is collaborating with Dr. Nilanjan Sarker, the Principal Investigator on an NSF-funded project. AiCoVE, a computer platform that allows two people to complete collaboratively on tasks with each other while experiencing AI interventions. AiCoVE was designed at Vanderbilt by Dr. Nilanjan Sarker and is being adapted to build in the double empathy paradigm. Dr. Damian Milton, an autistic academic, proposed the “double empathy” paradigm 13 years ago (Milton, 2012), which suggests that autistic people experience the world differently than non-autistic people and due to these differing perspectives, non-autistic adults find it difficult to understand and empathize with autistic people. More specifically, he suggests that the DEP represents “a disjuncture in reciprocity between two differently disposed social actors which becomes more marked the wider the disjuncture in dispositional perceptions of the lifeworld”.
“So much work in this space has all been prefixed on trying to educate autistic people to better conform to non-autistic scenarios, situations, and ways of communicating and being” Dr. Newbutt said. However, this project, led by Dr. Sarkar and his team at Vanderbilt, including Dr. David Caudel, Dr. Keivan Stassun, and Dr. Tim Vogus, is turning that around with a new approach: Where both individuals, autistic and non-autistic, in an interaction must accommodate one another equally to complete a given task. The tasks are being designed around the skilled technical workforce, to help train and educate a future workforce that is more neuroinclusive.
Inside the AiCoVE Experience
AiCoVE is designed for two people operating the platform together. “There will be two people set in two different physical locations with the same system in front of them, and they will work through a collaborative task, not knowing who each other are, whether they’re autistic or not, and the system will help educate both of them about how the other person is responding to and processing the task,” Dr. Newbutt shared.
If a situation arises where the communication between the two individuals isn’t going smoothly and successfully, an AI system will help and intervene in these moments to break down where the individuals could change how they react and respond. “It will help both sides communicate more sensitively, signaling that there isn’t necessarily a right or wrong way to think about something; but that one’s partner may be approaching the situation in a way that’s causing them unnecessary stress or pressure.,” Dr. Newbutt noted. “We want them to successfully complete the scenario. So, one measure of success will be that both participants manage to successfully navigate this activity collaboratively and exit the task better able to understand cross-neurotype ways of teamwork.”
Measuring Empathy: The Role of Physiology and Feedback
As the participants collaborate on the task together through the computer interface, researchers at Vanderbilt, using Dr. Sarkar’s designed system, will be taking physiological measures, including eye tracking and heart rate. For example, if one of the participants is feeling stressed or maybe not looking at the activity on the screen, the interface/AI can again intervene and educate the other individual to coordinate bringing the two individuals back together.
This feedback loop transforms empathy into a practice during the interaction between the participants. Participants learn how to be empathetic in real time.
Designing With, Not For: The Power of Autistic Collaboration
Throughout this research, Dr. Newbutt has emphasized co-design with autistic individuals, challenging historical research hierarchies. “We intentionally wanted to build a platform where autistic people and their stakeholders can inform what we are doing. They can test what we’ve done, they can refine what we have done, and then we can have increased confidence that what we’ve built is represents and authentic experience that is accessible and usable by neurodiverse populations,” Dr. Newbutt added on behalf of the team.
However, one challenge lies in a phrase that you hear constantly in the autism space. “If you meet one person with autism, then you have met one person with autism.” This idea emphasizes the heterogeneity of the condition where everyone is ultimately different, with varying perspectives, emotions, and challenges. “We can co-design this project with five different autistic people or non-autistic people and we often get five different responses,” Dr. Newbutt said. However, Dr. Sarkar’s AiCoVE system embraces this diversity as an opportunity for continuous improvement. By collecting feedback from an evolving pool of users, the platform can be trained to accommodate a wide range of profiles with adaptive AI interventions. Over time, heterogeneity becomes not a challenge but a driving force for greater personalization.
Empowering the Next Generation of Neurodiverse Innovators
Unfortunately, a lot of individuals with autism don’t see themselves as being in the STEM space because they have been excluded for so long throughout their educational journey. One Australian study found that individuals without disabilities were four times more likely than autistic individuals to attain a degree in higher education.
This project takes a different approach; not only including autistic individuals in the research process but also employs them as consultants, testers, and designers. Their lived experience is valued as significant expertise.
Additionally, the project includes an advisory board made up of self-advocates in the research team, professors, and youth voices. “We encourage and support people coming forward and wanting to collaborate and work with us and having the confidence that we’re inviting them into an inclusive space where their ideas will be heard and implemented.”
The Future of AiCoVE and the Vision Ahead
One of the most interesting aspects of AiCoVE is how it can be expanded upon, and scaled, in the future. Not only does the product offer immense opportunity for collaborations with other researchers in the neurodiversity and technology field, but it also has implications for all kinds of users who have different needs. For example, AiCoVE can be adapted to teach collaboration in more practical situations, such as completing daily tasks like navigating public transportation or completing multi-step household routines. It could also be configured to explore intersectionality, including how neurodiversity intersects with gender and identity. An example of Dr. Sarkar’s tools and innovations are being scaled with projects like SANDI, teaching neurodiverse learners the basic rules of the road and essential driving skills.
“The most important thing Dr. Sarkar and the team are trying to do is identify whether the double empathy paradigm can be embedded into a virtual environment, pairing people together to support cross-neurotype communication and collaboration, and as a result, help better educate different neurotypes about one another.” Dr. Newbutt explains.
AiCoVE also has promise in the commercial space. Collaborative communication is central to team performance, leadership, and workplace culture, making AiCoVE’s framework valuable far outside autism-specific contexts.
“I’m very fortunate to be in a very lively, exciting, motivating space, empowering autistic people and providing solutions to real world problems that exist in our society,” Dr. Newbutt shared. “We’re doing this to build a more inclusive society for everyone.” With AiCoVE, Dr. Newbutt and his team are one step closer in redefining how we understand empathy and mutual communication. Instead of expecting one group to adapt, it challenges all of us to meet each other in the middle.
References
Milton, D. E. (2012). On the ontological status of autism: The ‘double empathy problem’. Disability & society, 27(6), 883-887.
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