Study Information
About this research
You are being asked to participate in a research study. Scientists do research to answer important questions that might help change or improve the way we do things in the future. This document will give you information about the study to help you decide whether you want to participate. Please read this form, and ask any questions you have, before agreeing to be in the study.
All research is voluntary. You can choose not to take part in this study. If you decide to participate, you can change your mind later and leave the study at any time. You will not be penalized or lose any benefits if you decide not to participate or choose to leave the study later.
This research is intended for individuals 18 years of age or older. If you are under age 18, do not participate in the study.
Why is this study being done?
The purpose of this study is to explore how blind artists view and engage with artificial intelligence (AI) art tools and the visual art created using these tools, and see if there are ways in which these tools may be currently inaccessible or challenging them to use.
We are asking you if you want to be in this study because you are a blind or low-vision visual artist who has consented to being part of this research. The study is being conducted by Dr. Erin Brady and Gayatri Raman at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computer Science, and Engineering at Indiana University, Indianapolis.
What will happen during the study?
If you agree to be in the study, you will do the following things.
The study involves an interview with the first few questions centered around your broader life experience, disability, and journey as an art creator. The second set of questions will involve an activity to learn how you experience and reflect on art generated by the AI tools. We will ask you to share some phrases or words that can be used as text prompts for the AI tool. The researcher will input these phrases to the AI tool and get images back. After the images are generated and the researchers provide descriptions for them, you will be asked questions about this experience of using an AI tool to create art.
The expected amount of time for the entire interview is about one hour with the time split between the two sets of questions. The mode of interviewing will be remote and through phone call or online platforms like Zoom, and audio of the interview will be recorded for the research team to transcribe and analyze later.
What are the risks and benefits of taking part in this study?
Before agreeing to participate, please consider the risks and potential benefits of taking part in this study. Since the generative AI tools produce images based on the prompts we give it, the images it generates are fairly predictable. However, there always remains the risk that the images generated may be problematic or contain explicit content, because each prompt yields a unique set of images. In such an event, the researcher will intervene, either when you are suggesting a prompt or before describing the generated image, to warn the participant of these risks and suggest potential alternatives. At any time if you feel uncomfortable with the activity, you can ask the researcher to stop and proceed to the next questions, or to stop the interview entirely.
Please feel free to not answer questions during the interview that may make you feel uncomfortable. Please also feel free to ask for repeated clarifications from the interviewer, or to share any access needs with them to make sure the process is accessible to you.
There is a risk someone outside the study team could get access to your research information from this study. While the study is not about sensitive topics, this still could be embarrassing. We will protect your interview data as described below, and will anonymize any data we share with other researchers.
We don’t think you will have any personal benefits from taking part in this study, but we hope to learn things that will help researchers in the future.
You will be paid for participating in this study. You will receive a $30 digital gift card via email for your participation after completing the interview, and will still be paid if you decide to discontinue the interview after it has begun as long as you meet the eligibility criteria described above. There is no cost to participate in the study.
How will my information be protected?
We will protect your information and make every effort to keep your personal information confidential, but we cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality. No information which could identify you will be shared in publications about this study.
Your identity will be held in confidence in reports in which the study may be published. The original audio recordings of our interview will only be available to the researchers involved in this project to be used to refer back to what you said, and will be kept indefinitely. We may use anonymized excerpts from the audio records, text logs, or transcripts for educational purposes.
Your personal information may be shared outside the research study if required by law. We also may need to share your research records with other groups for quality assurance or data analysis. These groups include the Indiana University Institutional Review Board or its designees, and state or federal agencies who may need to access the research records (as allowed by law).
Who should I contact?
If you have questions about the study or encounter a problem with the research, contact the researchers, Gayatri Raman (garaman@iu.edu) or Erin Brady (brady@iu.edu or 317-278-7672).
For questions about your rights as a research participant, to discuss problems, complaints, or concerns about a research study, or to obtain information or to offer input, please contact the IU Human Research Protection Program office at 800-696-2949 or at irb@iu.edu.