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A methodological framework for participatory AI
AI from the Margins
An inclusive approach that centers the lived experiences of minoritized communities to design more equitable AI applications in healthcare and beyond.
About
Why it matters
AI is increasingly embedded in healthcare — shaping clinical decision-making, disease detection, and support for daily living. Despite its promise, AI applications can reproduce or amplify existing inequities, creating particular vulnerabilities for minoritized communities.
Participatory AI promises to democratize AI design by involving affected communities. However, much of what is labeled participatory remains instrumental rather than transformative — using participation to optimize systems rather than to genuinely share power, ownership, or agency.
AIM addresses this gap by introducing a pre-design stage in which lived experiences are explored without technological framing, ensuring that the voices of those most affected shape AI from the very beginning.
Research
The AIM method
AIM operationalizes lived experience as a prerequisite for participatory AI design. Rather than treating lived experience as an input within existing processes, AIM structures pre-design engagement through dedicated lived experience sessions.
Free narrative (SQUINN)
Each participant tells their own story in their own words, without predefined questions or frameworks. This session creates space for everyone to share what they consider most significant.
* May be repeated across multiple meetings to ensure every voice is heard fully.From individual lived experiences to shared rules
Individual narratives are brought together to identify patterns, tensions, and shared themes — moving from personal stories toward collective insights.
Translation to participatory AI
Shared insights are translated into concrete requirements and principles for AI design, keeping community voices central to the process.
Policy embedding
Outcomes are embedded in organizational and policy contexts, ensuring insights are reflected in governance and decision-making structures.
Based on the work of
- Add author / work here — e.g. Costanza-Chock, S. (2020). Design Justice.
- Add author / work here — e.g. Wengraf, T. (2001). Qualitative Research Interviewing.
- Add author / work here
Publications
Publications
2026
AIM paper publication
Full paper presenting the AIM framework and findings from eight lived experience sessions with 13 participants.
TBA
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