About
My name is Joel, and I am a PhD Fellow in the Human Centred Computing research group at Aalborg University. With a background in cognitive science, psychology, and philosophy, I bring a multifaceted viewpoint to human-AI interactions.
I am curious about how interactive systems can support people’s wellbeing. Much of my work focuses on how people engage with AI-powered conversational user interfaces and how design shapes that interaction. I aim to understand how these systems can better support users, be it in everyday tasks or by helping them feel better emotionally. By drawing insights from various disciplines, I strive to create interactions that are both meaningful and tailored to the needs of everyday citizens.
Publications
ToMinHAI at CUI’2025: Theory of Mind in Human-CUI Interaction
Qiaosi Wang, Joel Wester, Marvin Pafla, Minha Lee, Justin D. Weisz, Mei Si
Proceedings of the International Conference on Conversational User Interfaces (CUI’25)
to appear
Projecting Challenging Futures: Using Chatbots to Reflect on Aging and Dementia
Rucha Khot*, Teis Arets*, Joel Wester*, Franziska Burger, Niels van Berkel, Rens Brankaert, Wijnand IJsselsteijn, Minha Lee
Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’25)
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“As an AI language model, I cannot”: Investigating LLM Denials of User Requests
Joel Wester, Tim Schrills, Henning Pohl, Niels van Berkel
Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’24)
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| 🏆 Best Paper Honorable Mention
Facing LLMs: Robot Communication Styles in Mediating Health Information between Parents and Young Adults
Joel Wester, Bhakti Moghe, Katie Winkle, Niels van Berkel
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW’24)
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“This Chatbot Would Never…”: Perceived Moral Agency of Mental Health Chatbots
Joel Wester, Henning Pohl, Simo Hosio, Niels van Berkel
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW’24)
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Exploring People’s Perceptions of LLM-generated Advice
Joel Wester, Sander de Jong, Henning Pohl, Niels van Berkel
Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans, 2024
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How Can I Signal You To Trust Me: Investigating AI Trust Signalling in Clinical Self-Assessments
Naja Kathrine Kollerup, Joel Wester, Mikael B. Skov, Niels van Berkel
Proceedings of the ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS’24)
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A formal understanding of computational empathy in interactive agents
Andreas Brännström, Joel Wester, Juan Carlos Nieves
Cognitive Systems Research, 2024
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Assessing Cognitive and Social Awareness among Group Members in AI-assisted Collaboration
Sander de Jong, Joel Wester, Tim Schrills, Kristina Secher, Carla Griggio, Niels van Berkel
Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM’24)
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Moral Transparency as a Mitigator of Moral Bias in Conversational User Interfaces
Joel Wester, Minha Lee, Niels van Berkel
Proceedings of the International Conference on Conversational User Interfaces (CUI’23)
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“You’ve Got a Friend in Me”: A Formal Understanding of the Critical Friend Agent
Joel Wester, Andreas Brännström, Juan Carlos Nieves, Niels van Berkel
Proceedings of the International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction (HAI’23)
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Adjunct Proceedings
CHI’25 EA
Rune Møberg Jacobsen, Joel Wester, Helena Bøjer Djernæs, Niels van Berkel
Distributed Cognition for AI-supported Remote Operations: Challenges and Research Directions
to appear
CHI’24 EA
Joel Wester, Rune Møberg Jacobsen, Sander de Jong, Naja Kathrine Kollerup, Helena Bøjer Djernæs, Niels van Berkel
Theory of Mind and Self-Presentation in Human-LLM Interactions
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CHI’23 EA
Joel Wester, Julien Delaunay, Sander de Jong, Niels van Berkel
On Moral Manifestations in Large Language Models
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CHI’23 EA
Niels van Berkel, Sander de Jong, Joel Wester, Naja Kathrine Kollerup
The Challenge of Bias Mitigation in Clinical AI Decision Support: A Balance Between Decision Efficiency and Quality
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HRI’23 EA
Joel Wester, Eike Schneiders, Niels van Berkel
Perceived Moral Agency of Non-Moral Entities: Implications and Future Research Directions for Social Robots
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IJCAI-ECAI’22 EA
Joel Wester, Andreas Brännström, Juan Carlos Nieves
Towards a Formalization of the Critical Friend and Socio-Moral Decision-Making in Autonomous Systems
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