Active Inference and Human–Computer Interaction

• Published in: ACM transactions on computer-human interaction
• Main Authors: Murray-Smith, Roderick, Williamson, John, Stein, Sebastian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 29.08.2025
• ISSN: 1073-0516; 1557-7325
• DOI: 10.1145/3762812

Active Inference is a closed-loop computational theoretical basis for understanding behaviour, based on agents with internal probabilistic generative models that encode their beliefs about how hidden states in their environment cause their sensations. We review Active Inference and how it could be applied to model the human-computer interaction loop. Active Inference provides a coherent framework for managing generative models of humans, their environments, sensors and interface components. It informs off-line design and supports real-time, online adaptation. It provides model-based explanations for behaviours observed in HCI, and new conceptual tools with the potential to measure important concepts such as agency and engagement in interaction. We discuss how Active Inference offers a new basis for a theory of interaction in HCI, tools for design of modern, complex sensor-based systems, and integration of artificial intelligence technologies, enabling it to cope with diversity in human users and contexts. We discuss the practical challenges in implementing such Active Inference-based systems.