UIST 2026 Workshop
The Personalized Computer for the 21st Century
What should computers do when they know us deeply and can act on what they know?
AI systems can increasingly learn about people, adapt tools and interfaces to individual needs, and act on their behalf. This workshop brings researchers and practitioners together to decide what personalized computing should become and what it must preserve.
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About
Personal computers have rarely been truly personal.
For decades, personalization has largely meant settings, rankings, and recommendations. Modern AI introduces a more consequential possibility: systems that learn about people across contexts, generate bespoke tools and interfaces, and take meaningful action for them.
This makes an old vision newly plausible. It also forces us to ask what these systems should know, how they should be built, and where helpful personalization becomes unacceptable inference or intervention.
Original workshop proposal ↗ The program below reflects the final session schedule.
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Program
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Opening remarks and introduction
A brief introduction to the workshop goals and agenda.
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Spotlight talks: Past and present visions
Three talks revisiting earlier personalized systems and emerging visions.
Mira Dontcheva — Adobe Research
Ken Liu — Stanford University
Omar Rizwan — Folk Computer -
Debate: How does the “bitter lesson” apply to personal computing?
Debate whether general models or intentionally designed representations offer the best path forward.
Team Bitter Lesson: Michael S. Bernstein and Omar Shaikh
Team Abstraction: Wendy Mackay and Arvind SatyanarayanModerated by Andy Matuschak, with an introduction by Mitchell Gordon. The final ten minutes are reserved for audience Q&A.
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Coffee break
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Interactive activity: Prototyping provocative demos
What new interactions become possible when computers know us deeply? Work with your preassigned group to develop a demo of a personal application, a personalized interaction, or infrastructure for personalization. Find your group and the prompts in the workshop slides ↗.
- 11:00–11:05
- Introduction with Helena and Dylan
- 11:05–11:55
- Group work
- 11:55–12:15
- One-minute team demos and wrap-up
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From 12:30 PM
Optional group lunches
Continue the conversation at La Lanterna at 12:30 PM, MATI at 12:45 PM, or Pegasus Taverna at 1:00 PM. Sign up for lunch ↗
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For participants
Everything you need for the session.
Questions on the day? Contact Dylan Wootton.
We welcome researchers and practitioners working on personalized and adaptive interfaces, user modeling, personal agents, proactive AI, generative interfaces, end-user programming, privacy, agency, and control.
You do not need to work explicitly on “personalization.” We especially welcome perspectives that challenge its assumptions, methods, or desirability.
For registration options and availability, visit UIST registration ↗.
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