Saetbyeol LeeYouk, Yanchen Shen, Yuqiao Liao, and Behnaz Farahi. 2026. Cry for AI: A Moss-Controlled AI Wearable for Resource-Aware Interaction. In Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’26), April 13–17, 2026, Barcelona, Spain. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 5 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3799109

Abstract

Seemingly infinite AI requests rely on finite material resources like cooling water, computational electricity, and human labor, that largely remain invisible to end users. We present Cry for AI, a nature-controlled AI device that makes these dependencies tangible by giving living moss an access-control role over AI interaction. While prior work on sustainable AI has focused primarily on system-level efficiency or societal framing, few approaches address sustainability as an embodied, moment-to-moment interaction. Cry for AI introduces a personalized AI resource-budgeting interface that situates sustainability within a human–AI–nature feedback loop. Users select voice-controlled modes with predefined resource budgets, and moss viability determines whether AI responses are enabled, limited, or refused. When dehydration crosses a threshold, access is restricted until a tear-activated sensor restores hydration. Cry for AI reframes AI not as an immaterial service but as an interaction contingent on finite resources, allowing living system to regulate and reshape everyday use.