Smit Desai

Smit Desai serves as Assistant Professor at Northeastern University's College of Art, Media and Design (CAMD), holding joint appointments in the Department of Art and Design and Department of Communication Studies, with an affiliated appointment at Khoury College of Computer Science. His research bridges conversational AI, human-computer interaction, and inclusive design, focusing on voice user interfaces for older adults in healthcare and educational contexts.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Information Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• M.S. in Information Management, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• B.E. in Computer Engineering, Gujarat Technological University, India

Dr. Desai specializes in understanding user mental models through metaphor analysis to design conversational agents for social roles including teachers and storytellers. His work emphasizes ethical considerations in AI personality design, co-creation with older adults, and metaphor-fluid interfaces that adapt to user cognition. He has published extensively in premier venues such as CHI, TOCHI, and CSCW, contributing foundational insights on voice assistant interactions for aging populations.

Analysis of his 2023-2025 publications reveals three dominant trends: (1) Ethical frameworks for LLM-based agent personalities addressing trust and humanness metaphors, (2) Co-designed voice interfaces promoting older adults' well-being in clinical settings like emergency departments, and (3) Metaphor-driven design methodologies for adaptive conversational agents. His work consistently prioritizes real-world deployment challenges and socioemotional impacts of voice technologies.

Dr. Desai actively contributes to the research community through leadership roles including Provocation Papers Co-Chair for ACM Conversational User Interfaces (CUI) 2024 conference in Luxembourg.