Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a widely popular technology that will have a profound impact on society and individuals. Less than a decade ago, it was thought that creative work would be among the last to be automated – yet today, we see AI encroaching on many creative domains. In this paper, we present the findings of a survey study on people’s perceptions of text-to-image generation. We touch on participants’ technical understanding of the emerging technology, their fears and concerns, and thoughts about risks and dangers of text-to-image generation to the individual and society. We find that while participants were aware of the risks and dangers associated with the technology, only few participants considered the technology to be a personal risk. The risks for others were more easy to recognize for participants. Artists were particularly seen at risk. Interestingly, participants who had tried the technology rated its future importance lower than those who had not tried it. This result shows that many people are still oblivious of the potential personal risks of generative artificial intelligence and the impending societal changes associated with this technology.

Visual elements in user interfaces elicit emotions in users and are, therefore, essential to users interacting with different software. Although there is research on the relationship between emotional experience and visual user interface design, the focus has been on the overall visual impression and not on visual elements. Additionally, often in a software development process, programming and general usability guidelines are considered as the most important parts of the process. Therefore, knowledge of programmers’ appraisals of visual elements can be utilized to understand the web page designs we interact with. In this study, appraisal theory of emotion is utilized to elaborate the relationship of emotional experience and visual elements from programmers’ perspective. Participants (N=50) used 3E-templates to express their visual and emotional experiences of web page designs. Content analysis of textual data illustrates how emotional experiences are elicited by salient visual elements. Eight hierarchical visual element categories were found and connected to various emotions, such as frustration, boredom, and calmness, via relational emotion themes. The emotional emphasis was on centered, symmetrical, and balanced composition, which was experienced as pleasant and calming. The results benefit user-centered visual interface design and researchers of visual aesthetics in human-computer interaction.

Place-belongingness is conceptualized as the subjective aspect of geographical belonging. Drawing upon a review of empirical studies spanning over a decade, we clarify this concept in real-life contexts, where people assign practical meanings to their place-belongingness. Thematic categorization of these practical meanings yields an extended definition of the concept. We also reclassify the factors contributing to place-belongingness and examine how it emerges in real-life scenarios. This review provides insights into methods for evaluating place-belongingness, emphasizing the need for a validated measurement tool for assessing the impact of interventions. Our findings highlight the promising role of information technologies in enhancing place-belongingness, although it is an unmapped terrain. The review suggests intensified attention to sustainability, the politicization of resources, and non-belonging within place-belongingness research. Moreover, we accentuate place-belongingness as a point of departure for unveiling the underlying inclusion/exclusion structures.