Conversational Pedagogy Shapes Articulation in AI-Supported Art Viewing

Abstract

This paper presents the AIrt Guide, a flipped-interaction museum learning tool, as a comparative lens on how conversational design shapes interpretive articulation. We report preliminary findings from a study with n = 24 participants, focusing specifically on how these conversational structures shape the linguistic register of artistic interpretation. The Formal Analysis condition was associated with more noun-focused evaluative description and more verb-oriented inquiry framing, while Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) supported longer, more elaborated responses among participants. These preliminary findings suggest localized differences in how dialogue structure shapes interpretive language, rather than broad shifts in artistic engagement, and point toward design implications for conversational agents deployed in open-ended, interpretive contexts. This work contributes to ongoing questions in museum CUI research about how dialogue design influences user expression and interpretive articulation.