Hello!
I’m a postdoctoral fellow at Saarland University, advised by Prof. Ingmar Weber. I work in Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) and its development-focused branches, HCI4D and ICTD. I call the result Thoughtful AI: practical, low-cost systems—many built on large language models (LLMs)—that support learning, reflection, and civic participation.
I am also a KCRC Fellow at the Kigali Collaborative Research Centre, a research community based at Carnegie Mellon University Africa in Kigali that supports practical research and innovation for Africa.
My current focus is thoughtful AI: building AI with people, adapting it to the realities of their lives, and asking what they remain able to do once the assistance ends.
I completed my Ph.D. in Human–Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, advised by Prof. Amy Ogan and Prof. Tim Brown. My dissertation designed and evaluated low-cost, chat-based teacher learning systems that supported 400+ teachers and 10,000+ students in rural Côte d’Ivoire. Here is the draft of my thesis.
Research Interests
Three threads run through my work. Each one filters the publication list below.
- Conversational AI — chatbots, large language models (LLMs), interactive voice response, and microlearning
- Learning — teacher professional development, mentorship at scale, and teacher aspirations
- Global South — HCI4D and ICTD, asset-based design, and community access to health and education information
Selected Publications
(see more on Google Scholar)
Showing of 13.
Topic pages: Conversational AI · Global South · Learning
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Designing Safe and Accountable GenAI as a Learning Companion with Women Banned from Formal Education (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Conversational AI Generative AI Privacy
PDF Preprint DOI Details
Cite
@inproceedings{behmanush2026safe, title = {Designing Safe and Accountable GenAI as a Learning Companion with Women Banned from Formal Education}, author = {Behmanush, Hamayoon and Akhtari, Freshta and Weber, Ingmar and Cannanure, Vikram Kamath}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency}, pages = {6203--6225}, year = {2026}, publisher = {ACM}, doi = {10.1145/3805689.3806466} } -
Impacts of Targeted Instruction with Mobile-Based Support on Teachers and Students in Rural Côte d’Ivoire (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Learning Randomised Trial Côte d'Ivoire
PDF DOI Details
Cite
@article{wolf2026impacts, title = {Impacts of Targeted Instruction with Mobile-Based Support on Teachers and Students in Rural Côte d’Ivoire}, author = {Wolf, Sharon and Ogan, Amy and Jasińska, Kaja K. and Kembou, Samuel and Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and Whitehead, Hannah and Corbett, Julianna and Tanoh, Fabrice and Wortsman, Brooke and Lim, Joshua and Zhao, Hui and Kumar, Anahita}, journal = {American Educational Research Journal}, year = {2026}, doi = {10.3102/00028312261430679} } -
Teacher Professional Development on WhatsApp and LLMs: Early Lessons from Cameroon (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Conversational AI WhatsApp Teacher Training
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Cite
@inproceedings{cannanure2026whatsapp, title = {Teacher Professional Development on WhatsApp and LLMs: Early Lessons from Cameroon}, author = {Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and Yinkfu, Bruno and Bryan, Douglas and Amin, Mati and Weber, Ingmar}, booktitle = {Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2026)}, series = {Communications in Computer and Information Science}, pages = {249--261}, year = {2026}, publisher = {Springer Nature Switzerland}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-032-29791-4_18} } -
A Design-Based Research Approach to Bridge Teacher Aspirations and Goal-Setting (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Learning Aspirations Design-Based Research
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@article{cannanure2025designbased, title = {A Design-Based Research Approach to Bridge Teacher Aspirations and Goal-Setting}, author = {Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and Ngoon, Tricia J. and Wolf, Sharon and Jasińska, Kaja K. and Brown, Tim and Ogan, Amy}, journal = {ACM Journal on Computing and Sustainable Societies}, volume = {3}, number = {4}, pages = {1--23}, year = {2025}, doi = {10.1145/3736648} } -
Exploring AI in Education: Child-Computer Interaction in the Global South (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Global South Children AI in Education
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Cite
@article{verma2025exploring, title = {Exploring AI in Education: Child-Computer Interaction in the Global South}, author = {Verma, Riti and Weber, Ingmar and Cannanure, Vikram Kamath}, journal = {ACM Journal on Computing and Sustainable Societies}, volume = {3}, number = {3}, articleno = {20}, year = {2025}, doi = {10.1145/3736645} } -
Exploring LLMs for Automated Generation and Adaptation of Questionnaires (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Conversational AI LLMs Questionnaires
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@inproceedings{adhikari2025exploring, title = {Exploring LLMs for Automated Generation and Adaptation of Questionnaires}, author = {Adhikari, Divya Mani and Hartland, Alexander and Weber, Ingmar and Cannanure, Vikram Kamath}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces}, year = {2025}, articleno = {70}, doi = {10.1145/3719160.3736606} } -
Learn, Explore and Reflect by Chatting: Understanding the Value of an LLM-Based Voting Advice Application Chatbot (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Conversational AI LLMs Civic Engagement
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@inproceedings{zhu2025learn, title = {Learn, Explore and Reflect by Chatting: Understanding the Value of an LLM-Based Voting Advice Application Chatbot}, author = {Zhu, Jianlong and Kempermann, Manon and Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and Hartland, Alexander and Navarrete, Rosa M. and Carteny, Giuseppe and Braun, Daniela and Weber, Ingmar}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces}, year = {2025}, doi = {10.1145/3719160.3736611} } -
Understanding the Longitudinal Impact of a Chatbot to Facilitate a Virtual Community of Practice for Teachers in Rural Côte d’Ivoire (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Conversational AI Chatbots Community of Practice
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Cite
@article{cannanure2024longitudinal, title = {Understanding the Longitudinal Impact of a Chatbot to Facilitate a Virtual Community of Practice for Teachers in Rural C{\^o}te d'Ivoire}, author = {Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and Ngoon, Tricia and Wolf, Sharon and Jasi{\'n}ska, Kaja and Brown, Timothy X. and Ogan, Amy}, journal = {ACM Journal on Computing and Sustainable Societies}, volume = {2}, number = {3}, articleno = {37}, year = {2024}, doi = {10.1145/3675762} } -
“I Believe I Did Not Preach into the Desert”: Opportunities and Challenges in Scaling Teacher Mentorship through Mobile Technology in Rural Côte d’Ivoire (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Learning Mentorship Mobile Technology
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@inproceedings{ngoon2024believe, title = {{``I Believe I Did Not Preach into the Desert''}: Opportunities and Challenges in Scaling Teacher Mentorship through Mobile Technology in Rural C{\^o}te d'Ivoire}, author = {Ngoon, Tricia J. and Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and Jasi{\'n}ska, Kaja and Wolf, Sharon and Ogan, Amy}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Eleventh ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale}, pages = {232--242}, year = {2024}, doi = {10.1145/3657604.3662035} } -
“We dream of climbing the ladder; to get there, we have to do our job better”: Designing for Teacher Aspirations in rural Côte d’Ivoire (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Learning Teacher Aspirations Scaling
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@inproceedings{cannanure2022dream, title = {{``We dream of climbing the ladder; to get there, we have to do our job better''}: Designing for Teacher Aspirations in rural C{\^o}te d'Ivoire}, author = {Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and {\'A}vila-Uribe, Elo{\'i}sa and Ngoon, Tricia and Adji, Yves Thierry and Wolf, Sharon and Jasi{\'n}ska, Kaja and Brown, Timothy X. and Ogan, Amy}, booktitle = {ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies}, pages = {122--138}, year = {2022}, publisher = {ACM}, doi = {10.1145/3530190.3534794} } -
“I’m Fine Where I Am, but I Want to Do More”: Exploring Teacher Aspirations in Rural Côte d’Ivoire (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Learning Teacher Aspirations Rural Education
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Cite
@inproceedings{cannanure2020aspirations, title = {{``I'm Fine Where I Am, but I Want to Do More''}: Exploring Teacher Aspirations in Rural C{\^o}te d'Ivoire}, author = {Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and Niweteto, Justin Souvenir and Adji, Yves Thierry and Hermann, Akpe Yapo and Jasi{\'n}ska, Kaja K. and Brown, Timothy X. and Ogan, Amy}, booktitle = {ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies}, pages = {1--12}, year = {2020}, doi = {10.1145/3378393.3403653} } -
DIA: A Human AI Hybrid Conversational Assistant for Developing Contexts (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Conversational AI Chatbots WhatsApp
PDF DOI Details
Cite
@inproceedings{cannanure2020dia, title = {DIA: A Human AI Hybrid Conversational Assistant for Developing Contexts}, author = {Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and Brown, Timothy X. and Ogan, Amy}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development}, articleno = {24}, year = {2020}, doi = {10.1145/3392561.3397577} } -
HCI Across Borders and Sustainable Development Goals
Global South HCI Across Borders Community
DOI Details
Cite
@inproceedings{kumar2020hcixb, title = {HCI Across Borders and Sustainable Development Goals}, author = {Kumar, Neha and Cannanure, Vikram Kamath and Gamage, Dilrukshi and Prabhakar, Annu Sible and Sturm, Christian and Rivera Loaiza, Cuauht{\'e}moc and Sabie, Dina and Bhuiyan, Md. Moinuddin and Moreno Rocha, Mario A.}, booktitle = {Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems}, pages = {1--8}, year = {2020}, publisher = {ACM}, doi = {10.1145/3334480.3375067} }
News
- 2026 – Serving as Papers Chair for ACM COMPASS 2026.
- 2026 – Paper at ACM FAccT 2026 on designing safe, accountable GenAI learning companions with women banned from formal education.
- Oct 2025 – Teaching: AI & the Global South (lead instructor).
- Feb 2025 – Papers accepted to CUI 2025 (LLM survey design; reflection with a voting advice application) and COMPASS 2025 (online learning & GenAI for Afghan women).
- Oct 2023 – Started my postdoc in Saarbrücken.
- Aug 2023 – Defended PhD at CMU 🎓
Service
- Co-Organizer & Community Lead, HCI Across Borders (CHI ’20–’25; COMPASS ’23/’24).
- Papers Chair, ACM COMPASS 2026.
- Program Committees, COMPASS 2025 and AfriCHI 2025.
- Reviewer, CHI, CSCW, COMPASS, ICTD, CHI Extended Abstracts, and CHI Case Studies.
- Fundraising, raised over $20,000 for social causes in India.
- Kannada language teacher (volunteer), S.V. Temple, Pittsburgh.
Swimming
I’m a long-distance swimmer and have raised funds for NGOs in India.
Stories on my blog.
Selected swims:
- Elephanta → Gateway of India
- Swim Miami 2016 & 2021
- Lake Muhazi, Rwanda
Software & Making Things
I’ve built systems for web, Android, desktop, iOS, and hardware.
Selected projects include scalable Flask APIs (4M+ users), a WebGL 3D viewer, Learn Kannada (10K+ downloads), and Jedi Mouse (gesture + EEG cursor control).
Contact
Email: vica001@teams.uni-saarland.de
Meet: Schedule a meeting
Twitter: @kmarkiv
Blog: kmarkiv.wordpress.com
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