It was originally conceived by Ian Drosos, former Resident Researcher, and published with support from Jack Williams, Advait Sarkar, Nicholas Wilson, Payod Panda, and myself. Thanks also to Richard Banks, Neeltje Berger, Philipp Steinacher, Shannon Monroe, Matt Corwine, and Ed Essey.
It’s a collaboration between the Tools for Thought (microsoft.com/en-us/research…) and ENCODE projects.
I’m really proud of this work from my group, and even more of the translation of research into a simple usable technique.
Promptions comes from the People‑Centric AI group at @MSFTResearchCam (microsoft.com/en-us/research…).
Find out more about the research that backs it from the linked blog post, and/or watch the video.
Doing some cheeky vibe‑coding over the holidays?
If you’re building UI for AI, give your users the power of choice with Promptions (prompt + options). github.com/microsoft/Pr...
Dynamically-generated controls end the frustration of endless typing and trial & error prompting.
If you care about the future of work with AI, take 15 minutes to be inspired by this thoughtful, amusing, and hopeful video.
In his TEDAI Vienna talk, Advait Sarkar from our #ToolsForThought team pushes back against AI that thinks for us, and shows how AI can help us think better.
...and see this 📢 new call for articles for the forthcoming HCI Journal Special Issue of Human-Computer Interaction: “Generative AI in Tools for Thought: Theory, Design, & Assessment.”
tinyurl.com/t4tcfp
Proposals due Oct 15 2025. Full papers due Jan 28 2026.
At #CHI2025, we ran a workshop on 🧠Tools for Thought: Research and Design for Understanding, Protecting, and Augmenting Human Cognition with #GenerativeAI
What are the #HCI research+design opps in this space?
👉Read our new synthesis of the workshop:
arxiv.org/abs/2508.21036
A digital illustration of a person with a contemplative expression, resting their chin on their hand. The top of the person's head is open, revealing a white bird standing inside. The seagull is holding a worm in its beak, feeding the baby birds. The background is blue, and the words "TOOLS FOR THOUGHT" are written across the image in white letters. At the top left, in white letters, the words “MICROSOFT AT CHI 2025” are written.
Join us at CHI 2025 to explore how AI systems can be used as Tools for Thought as we reimage AI’s role in human thinking. Learn about new research, prototypes, and a workshop on designing AI that supports critical thinking, decision-making, and creativity: msft.it/6016qhMFs
Our short piece in the USC Annenberg 2025 Relevance Report proposes that the next #ResponsibleAI challenge is to develop #ToolsForThought - AI systems that protect and augment human judgement.
Look out for our upcoming #chi2025 papers and workshop at aka.ms/toolsforthou...
