Title: 13-14 IRA2 – Evaluating AI and Human Simulations, for High-Stakes Communication Training in Law Enforcement
Jen WHITING, doctorante University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA.
Talk/demo
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how professionals can learn complex communication skills, but an important question remains: How should AI and human experiences be combined to produce the best learning outcomes? This presentation examines the results of a mixed-methods study comparing AI-mediated and live human simulations for trauma-informed interviewing in law enforcement. Drawing on research with police recruits, the session explores how the sequencing of AI and human interactions influences confidence, emotional engagement, and skill development, introducing a new pedagogical framework based on social-emotional, temporal, and embodied distance. The presentation will conclude with a live demonstration of an AI-powered communication trainer designed for trauma-informed sexual assault victim interviewing. Attendees will experience how the system simulates realistic survivor personas, provides adaptive conversational responses, and generates detailed feedback to help recruits develop empathy, questioning strategies, and interviewing competence in a safe, scalable learning environment.
Biography
Jen Whiting is a doctoral candidate in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her scholarship examines communication, authority, and learning in professional training environments, with a particular focus on the pedagogy of power and how individuals learn to enact authority through interaction. Whiting serves as a researcher, curriculum developer, and instructor with the Police Training Institute at the University of Illinois, where she contributes to communication, report writing, procedural justice, and scenario-based training initiatives. Her current work explores the use of artificial intelligence and simulation technologies to study and assess communication practices in high-stakes professions. Drawing on perspectives from communication studies, education, and organizational learning, her research seeks to better understand how authority, presence, and conversational competence are taught, learned, and evaluated across professional contexts.
NOTA
Les séminaires IRA2 sont organisés tous les premiers lundi de chaque mois, à l’initiative de la direction de l’équipe IRA2.
- Date: 12/06/2026, 12h-13h.
- Lieu: IBISC, site Pelvoux, salle Ax101
- Organisation: Amine CHELLALI (MCF Univ. Évry, IBISC équipe IRA2)
- Voir site officiel du centre XR+AI for Empathy Training (XAI4ET) de l’Université de l’Illinois
- Voir le projet ANR MASTERS
