Beyond Visual Limits: Systems Thinking for the Visually Impaired Using Generative AI

This paper investigates the responsible application of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance accessibility in STEM education. It presents a proof of concept to generate descriptions of visual representations of Systems Thinking (Meadows, 2009), a discipline that is challenging for individuals with visual impairments. By adhering to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (The Americans with Disabilities Act, 2024) guidelines and leveraging AI, this initiative aims to facilitate comprehension of complex systems. It underscores the ethical imperative of inclusivity in educational technology. Developing AI-driven tools to describe System Dynamics showcases a commitment to ethical AI deployment, promoting equitable access to educational resources. We have successfully developed a prompt that could recognize and describe basic Systems Thinking representations, laying a foundational step towards achieving our overarching goal of comprehensive accessibility in visual system representation interpretation.