More Than Just Access: Generative AI as Communication Intermediary for Blind and Low-Vision Users

arXiv:2609.15696 · cs.HC, cs.AI, cs.ET · Submitted 2026-09-14 · Read on arXiv

cs.HC, cs.AI, cs.ET

Submitted: 2026-09-14

Updated: 2026-09-14

Comments: Proceedings of the CSCW 2026 Workshop on Broader Impacts of GenAI in Communication:Building Agendas for Research, Design, and Policymaking, October 10-14, 2026, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Journal ref: Proceedings of the CSCW 2026 Workshop on Broader Impacts of GenAI in Communication:Building Agendas for Research, Design, and Policymaking

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The gist: Generative AI (GenAI) tools are increasingly woven into how blind and low-vision (BLV) people communicate, not only with digital information, but with the physical world and with other people.

Terminology

Abstract

Generative AI (GenAI) tools are increasingly woven into how blind and low-vision (BLV) people communicate, not only with digital information, but with the physical world and with other people. Tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Be My AI, and Seeing AI translate visual and textual content into accessible form, and are beginning to substitute for interpersonal requests for help, such as asking a family member to read a label or describe a scene. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 19 BLV participants, we examine GenAI as a communication intermediary and how it succeeds and fails as an alternative for reading, describing, and even asking another person for help. We also investigated what BLV users gain and risk when these tools take over that role. We conclude with design and policy implications for GenAI systems that communicate uncertainty honestly, protect information, and support BLV users' independence rather than substitute for it unsafely.

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