Gamifying Compassion: Mitigating Dialect Prejudice Through An AI-Driven Serious Game

Sicheng Lu; Erick Purwanto; Hong Liu; Adel Chaouch-Orozco; Aini Li

doi:10.1145/3772318.3791482

Gamifying Compassion: Mitigating Dialect Prejudice Through An AI-Driven Serious Game

Sicheng Lu
, Erick Purwanto^*
, Hong Liu
, Adel Chaouch-Orozco
, Aini Li^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
City University of Hong Kong

Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Proceeding › peer-review

Abstract

Dialect bias is pervasive yet often unconscious, normalized, or obscured by masking. Existing HCI interventions primarily audit disparities and propose reactive fixes. We present CompassioMate, a dialect-aware serious game that nurtures perspective-taking through AI-mediated play. Players listen to audio samples to identify regional dialects, engage in simulated social interactions involving dialect discrimination, and explore branching narratives that reveal how changes in wording or stance can influence the outcomes. In a three-week field study with 20 university students, participants reported feeling comfortable when observing region-tailored dialogues; several described experiencing perspective change. We contribute: 1) a formative study identifying goals for safe action consequence modelling, 2) the design and evaluation of a serious game integrating dialect audio, region-mapping play, bias; and 3) design implications highlighting listener-side training, transparent evaluation, and narratives maintaining psychological well-being.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Nuria Oliver, David A. Shamma, Heloisa Candello, Pablo Cesar, Pedro Lopes, Alessandro Bozzon, Thomas Kosch, Vera Liao, Xiaojuan Ma, Valentino Artizzu, Fiona Draxler, Gustavo Lopez, Anke V. Reinschluessel, Xin Tong, Phoebe O. Toups Dugas
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)	9798400722783
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791482
Publication status	Published - 13 Apr 2026
Event	2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026 - Barcelona, Spain Duration: 13 Apr 2026 → 17 Apr 2026

Publication series

Name	Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference	2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026
Country/Territory	Spain
City	Barcelona
Period	13/04/26 → 17/04/26

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Accent Bias
Dialect-aware Interaction
Reflective Practice
Serious Games

Access to Document

10.1145/3772318.3791482

Cite this

Lu, S., Purwanto, E., Liu, H., Chaouch-Orozco, A., & Li, A. (2026). Gamifying Compassion: Mitigating Dialect Prejudice Through An AI-Driven Serious Game. In N. Oliver, D. A. Shamma, H. Candello, P. Cesar, P. Lopes, A. Bozzon, T. Kosch, V. Liao, X. Ma, V. Artizzu, F. Draxler, G. Lopez, A. V. Reinschluessel, X. Tong, & P. O. Toups Dugas (Eds.), CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Article 839 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791482

Lu, Sicheng ; Purwanto, Erick ; Liu, Hong et al. / Gamifying Compassion : Mitigating Dialect Prejudice Through An AI-Driven Serious Game. CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. editor / Nuria Oliver ; David A. Shamma ; Heloisa Candello ; Pablo Cesar ; Pedro Lopes ; Alessandro Bozzon ; Thomas Kosch ; Vera Liao ; Xiaojuan Ma ; Valentino Artizzu ; Fiona Draxler ; Gustavo Lopez ; Anke V. Reinschluessel ; Xin Tong ; Phoebe O. Toups Dugas. Association for Computing Machinery, 2026. (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ).

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title = "Gamifying Compassion: Mitigating Dialect Prejudice Through An AI-Driven Serious Game",

abstract = "Dialect bias is pervasive yet often unconscious, normalized, or obscured by masking. Existing HCI interventions primarily audit disparities and propose reactive fixes. We present CompassioMate, a dialect-aware serious game that nurtures perspective-taking through AI-mediated play. Players listen to audio samples to identify regional dialects, engage in simulated social interactions involving dialect discrimination, and explore branching narratives that reveal how changes in wording or stance can influence the outcomes. In a three-week field study with 20 university students, participants reported feeling comfortable when observing region-tailored dialogues; several described experiencing perspective change. We contribute: 1) a formative study identifying goals for safe action consequence modelling, 2) the design and evaluation of a serious game integrating dialect audio, region-mapping play, bias; and 3) design implications highlighting listener-side training, transparent evaluation, and narratives maintaining psychological well-being.",

keywords = "Accent Bias, Dialect-aware Interaction, Reflective Practice, Serious Games",

author = "Sicheng Lu and Erick Purwanto and Hong Liu and Adel Chaouch-Orozco and Aini Li",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).; 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026 ; Conference date: 13-04-2026 Through 17-04-2026",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

day = "13",

doi = "10.1145/3772318.3791482",

language = "English",

series = "Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery",

editor = "Nuria Oliver and Shamma, \{David A.\} and Heloisa Candello and Pablo Cesar and Pedro Lopes and Alessandro Bozzon and Thomas Kosch and Vera Liao and Xiaojuan Ma and Valentino Artizzu and Fiona Draxler and Gustavo Lopez and Reinschluessel, \{Anke V.\} and Xin Tong and \{Toups Dugas\}, \{Phoebe O.\}",

booktitle = "CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

}

Lu, S, Purwanto, E , Liu, H, Chaouch-Orozco, A & Li, A 2026, Gamifying Compassion: Mitigating Dialect Prejudice Through An AI-Driven Serious Game. in N Oliver, DA Shamma, H Candello, P Cesar, P Lopes, A Bozzon, T Kosch, V Liao, X Ma, V Artizzu, F Draxler, G Lopez, AV Reinschluessel, X Tong & PO Toups Dugas (eds), CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 839, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings , Association for Computing Machinery, 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026, Barcelona, Spain, 13/04/26. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791482

Gamifying Compassion: Mitigating Dialect Prejudice Through An AI-Driven Serious Game. / Lu, Sicheng; Purwanto, Erick ; Liu, Hong et al.
CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Nuria Oliver; David A. Shamma; Heloisa Candello; Pablo Cesar; Pedro Lopes; Alessandro Bozzon; Thomas Kosch; Vera Liao; Xiaojuan Ma; Valentino Artizzu; Fiona Draxler; Gustavo Lopez; Anke V. Reinschluessel; Xin Tong; Phoebe O. Toups Dugas. Association for Computing Machinery, 2026. 839 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ).

Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Proceeding › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Gamifying Compassion

T2 - 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026

AU - Lu, Sicheng

AU - Purwanto, Erick

AU - Liu, Hong

AU - Chaouch-Orozco, Adel

AU - Li, Aini

PY - 2026/4/13

Y1 - 2026/4/13

N2 - Dialect bias is pervasive yet often unconscious, normalized, or obscured by masking. Existing HCI interventions primarily audit disparities and propose reactive fixes. We present CompassioMate, a dialect-aware serious game that nurtures perspective-taking through AI-mediated play. Players listen to audio samples to identify regional dialects, engage in simulated social interactions involving dialect discrimination, and explore branching narratives that reveal how changes in wording or stance can influence the outcomes. In a three-week field study with 20 university students, participants reported feeling comfortable when observing region-tailored dialogues; several described experiencing perspective change. We contribute: 1) a formative study identifying goals for safe action consequence modelling, 2) the design and evaluation of a serious game integrating dialect audio, region-mapping play, bias; and 3) design implications highlighting listener-side training, transparent evaluation, and narratives maintaining psychological well-being.

AB - Dialect bias is pervasive yet often unconscious, normalized, or obscured by masking. Existing HCI interventions primarily audit disparities and propose reactive fixes. We present CompassioMate, a dialect-aware serious game that nurtures perspective-taking through AI-mediated play. Players listen to audio samples to identify regional dialects, engage in simulated social interactions involving dialect discrimination, and explore branching narratives that reveal how changes in wording or stance can influence the outcomes. In a three-week field study with 20 university students, participants reported feeling comfortable when observing region-tailored dialogues; several described experiencing perspective change. We contribute: 1) a formative study identifying goals for safe action consequence modelling, 2) the design and evaluation of a serious game integrating dialect audio, region-mapping play, bias; and 3) design implications highlighting listener-side training, transparent evaluation, and narratives maintaining psychological well-being.

KW - Accent Bias

KW - Dialect-aware Interaction

KW - Reflective Practice

KW - Serious Games

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105038705019

U2 - 10.1145/3772318.3791482

DO - 10.1145/3772318.3791482

M3 - Conference Proceeding

AN - SCOPUS:105038705019

T3 - Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

BT - CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

A2 - Oliver, Nuria

A2 - Shamma, David A.

A2 - Candello, Heloisa

A2 - Cesar, Pablo

A2 - Lopes, Pedro

A2 - Bozzon, Alessandro

A2 - Kosch, Thomas

A2 - Liao, Vera

A2 - Ma, Xiaojuan

A2 - Artizzu, Valentino

A2 - Draxler, Fiona

A2 - Lopez, Gustavo

A2 - Reinschluessel, Anke V.

A2 - Tong, Xin

A2 - Toups Dugas, Phoebe O.

PB - Association for Computing Machinery

Y2 - 13 April 2026 through 17 April 2026

ER -

Lu S, Purwanto E , Liu H, Chaouch-Orozco A, Li A. Gamifying Compassion: Mitigating Dialect Prejudice Through An AI-Driven Serious Game. In Oliver N, Shamma DA, Candello H, Cesar P, Lopes P, Bozzon A, Kosch T, Liao V, Ma X, Artizzu V, Draxler F, Lopez G, Reinschluessel AV, Tong X, Toups Dugas PO, editors, CHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery. 2026. 839. (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings ). doi: 10.1145/3772318.3791482

Gamifying Compassion: Mitigating Dialect Prejudice Through An AI-Driven Serious Game

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this