SENTIMENT: Exploring Privacy and Intimacy in Human–Chatbot Interaction Through Design and Visual Language
The research project SENTIMENT investigates the intersection of privacy and intimacy in human–chatbot interactions. As dialogical AI systems become increasingly integrated into everyday digital practices, the boundaries between human and machine communication begin to blur—prompting users to share highly personal and sensitive content. The interdisciplinary project team engages with the ethical challenges arising from this shift and develops Privacy-by-Design approaches to protect user data and enable self-determined digital experiences.
To make the project's evolving perspectives visible and foster knowledge exchange within the research consortium, a digital platform has been conceptualized. Serving as both a dynamic archive and a discursive space, the platform enables the collaborative documentation and public sharing of insights, methodologies, and intermediate results among project partners.
The visual design of the platform is grounded in a coherent aesthetic concept that closely aligns with the project’s central themes. A key visual motif is the typing indicator—a semiotically charged symbol of digital presence and real-time communication. Its ambivalence between activity and anticipation serves as a metaphor for the dialogical openness of AI-mediated interaction.
Additionally, elements from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and phonetic transcription systems inform the typographic design, bridging the gap between sound and visual expression. These systems, known for their precision in representing spoken language, inspire a minimalist and functional design language that renders the acoustic structure of communication visually tangible.
The resulting visual identity navigates the space between language, design, and digital intimacy, aiming to make the aesthetic and medial dimensions of linguistic processes perceptible within the context of machine-supported communication. Through this, SENTIMENT contributes to the critical reflection on the everyday role of artificial intelligence, the ethical design of digital systems, and the development of new frameworks for visualizing emotionally charged, sensitive human–machine relationships.