My phone is my frontal lobe
Authors
Engsvang, Mikkel ; Vasilev, Georgi Georgiev
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-06-04
Abstract
This thesis examines how neurodivergent students at Aalborg University adopt and domesticate AI-driven assistive technologies in their day-to-day studies, and how such tools reshape the relationship between the student, their neurodivergence, and institutional expectations. The empirical focus is the Tiimo planning app, designed for users with ADHD and autism, situated within the executive demands of AAU’s Problem-Based Learning model and the structural boundaries of Special Pedagogical Support (SPS). A three-week pilot combined semi-structured interviews with five students, daily and weekly diary check-ins via Microsoft Forms, and expert interviews with an SPS counsellor and Tiimo’s co-founder. Qualitative materials were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, and closed-ended diary items were summarised descriptively; the framework drew primarily on Actor-Network Theory and Technological Mediation, with supplementary perspectives from Extended Mind, the Social Model of Disability, Cyborg Anthropology, and Task-Technology Fit. The analysis shows appropriation as selective extraction rather than full integration: students adopted the parts that fit their practice and refused the rest. The same product was variously framed as a helper, a boss, a nag, or a quiet background assistant. Four cross-cutting insights emerge: the threshold where support becomes burden; help as subtraction versus addition; the difference between a counsellor’s relational continuity and an algorithm’s pattern knowledge; and the way commercial logic shapes which forms of neurodivergence a product serves best.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan neurodivergente studerende på Aalborg Universitet tager AI-drevne hjælpemidler i brug i deres studiehverdag, og hvordan sådanne teknologier ændrer forholdet mellem den studerende, deres neurodivergens og de institutionelle forventninger. Undersøgelsen tager afsæt i planlægningsappen Tiimo, udviklet til brugere med ADHD og autisme, placeret i krydsfeltet mellem AAU’s problem-baserede læringsmodel og rammerne for Special Pedagogical Support (SPS). Et tre ugers pilotforløb bestod af semistrukturerede interviews med fem studerende, daglige og ugentlige dagbogstjek via Microsoft Forms samt ekspertinterviews med en SPS-rådgiver og Tiimos medstifter. Det kvalitative materiale blev analyseret med refleksiv tematisk analyse, mens lukkede dagbogspunkter blev beskrevet kvantitativt; teoretisk trækkes især på Actor-Network Theory og teknologisk mediation med supplerende perspektiver fra Extended Mind, den sociale handicapmodel, cyborgantropologi og Task-Technology Fit. Analysen viser, at appropriering typisk er selektiv udvinding frem for fuld integration: de studerende bruger de dele af appen, der passer til deres praksis, og afviser resten. Den samme teknologi blev på tværs af deltagere beskrevet som henholdsvis en frivillig hjælper, en boss, en irriterende påmindelse eller en stille baggrundsassistent. Fire analytiske pointer træder frem: skæringspunktet hvor støtte bliver til byrde; forskellen mellem hjælp som subtraktion (fjerne friktion) versus addition (tilføje lag); forskellen mellem relationel kontinuitet hos en rådgiver og mønsterviden i en algoritme; og hvordan kommerciel logik præger, hvilke former for neurodivergens et produkt bedst betjener.
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