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Creating and Evaluating Personas Using Generative AI: A Scoping Review of 81 Articles

  • Danial Amin*
  • , Joni Salminen
  • , Farhan Ahmed
  • , Sonja M.H. Tervola
  • , Sankalp Sethi
  • , Bernard J. Jansen
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • University of Vaasa
  • University of Cambridge
  • University of Arizona

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

As generative AI (GenAI) is increasingly applied in persona development to represent real users, understanding the implications and limitations of this technology is essential for establishing robust practices. This scoping review analyzes how 81 articles (2022-2025) use GenAI techniques for the creation, evaluation, and application of personas. The articles exhibited good level of reproducibility, with 61% of articles sharing resources (personas, code, or datasets). Furthermore, conversational persona interfaces are increasingly provided alongside traditional profiles. However, nearly half (45%) of the articles lack evaluation, and the majority (86%) use only GPT models. In some articles, GenAI use creates a risk of circularity, in which the same GenAI model both generates and evaluates outputs. Our findings also suggest that GenAI seems to reduce the role of human developers in the persona-creation process. To mitigate the associated risks, we propose actionable guidelines for the responsible integration of GenAI into persona development.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCHI 2026 - Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
EditorsNuria Oliver, David A. Shamma, Heloisa Candello, Pablo Cesar, Pedro Lopes, Alessandro Bozzon, Thomas Kosch, Vera Liao, Xiaojuan Ma, Valentino Artizzu, Fiona Draxler, Gustavo Lopez, Anke V. Reinschluessel, Xin Tong, Phoebe O. Toups Dugas
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9798400722783
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Apr 2026
Event2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026 - Barcelona, Spain
Duration: 13 Apr 202617 Apr 2026

Publication series

NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026
Country/TerritorySpain
CityBarcelona
Period13/04/2617/04/26

Keywords

  • Generative AI
  • LLM
  • Persona Development
  • Personas

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