PhD Dissertation Proposal by VIDANA Gamage Manusha Imesh Karunathilaka | AI-Driven Interactive Knowledge Synthesis and Explorable Learning

AI-Driven Interactive Knowledge Synthesis and Explorable Learning

ABOUT THE TALK

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed how people access information and learn, yet most AI systems remain largely text-centric, providing generated prose with limited support for visual synthesis and interactive exploration. This dissertation argues that AI should move beyond generating text to constructing interactive explanatory artifacts that combine generated content, visual structure, and user interaction to support deeper understanding. Such artifacts enable people to inspect, manipulate, and reason about complex information and concepts, whether synthesizing knowledge from multiple sources or learning abstract subjects such as mathematics. To investigate this vision, the dissertation presents three AI-driven systems spanning knowledge synthesis and mathematics education: Compendia, which transforms fragmented information from online documents into interactive visual data stories; MathVibe, which supports teacher–AI co-creation of mathematics explorable explanations; and EETutor, which dynamically generates and adapts interactive explanations during tutoring conversations. Together, these systems demonstrate how AI can act as a medium for creating interactive explanatory artifacts that organize information, connect representations, and foster learning through exploration rather than text alone.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Manusha Karunathilaka is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Computing and Information Systems at Singapore Management University. His research lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, data visualization, and educational technologies. He is particularly interested in developing AI-driven interactive artifacts that support knowledge synthesis, explanation, and learning. His work has been published in leading venues, including the IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (IEEE TVCG) and the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI).