Modeling Dynamic Cognitive State Profiles for Trustworthy AI
Doctoral research proposal — Stephen Pettus, NSF CSGrad4US Fellow (Information Science, Drexel University).
Problem Framing & Proposed Research Opportunity
Large language models are increasingly embedded in reflective tools, learning platforms, and decision-support systems. These systems demonstrate remarkable generative capabilities and provide assistance in education, ideation, problem-solving, and emotional reflection. As AI becomes integrated into everyday workflows, a large opportunity and need emerges: designing systems that respond not only to textual input, but to the evolving cognitive states of the individual interacting with them.
Current AI systems largely treat prompts as isolated events. Yet interaction patterns, engagement trajectories, and behavioral traces contain meaningful signals about user condition. Incorporating dynamic representations of user state into model conditioning offers a pathway to improving trust, alignment, sustained engagement, cognition, and digital-wellness outcomes.