"I look at it as the king of knowledge": How Blind People Use and Understand Generative AI Tools

The proliferation of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools has brought a critical shift in how people approach information retrieval and content creation in diverse contexts. Yet, we have limited understanding of how blind people use and make sense of GenAI systems. To bridge this gap, we report findings from interviews with 19 blind individuals who incorporate mainstream GenAI tools like ChatGPT and Be My AI in their everyday practices. Our findings reveal how blind users navigate accessibility issues, inaccuracies, hallucinations, and idiosyncracies associated with GenAI and develop interesting (but often flawed) mental models of how these tools work. We discuss key considerations for rethinking access and information verification in GenAI tools, unpacking erroneous mental models among blind users, and reconciling harms and benefits of GenAI from an accessibility perspective.