About
chatPsych is a Python based, open-source interface for human–AI research. It leverages widespread AI models and aims to improve the quality of research in HCI/HRI by offering an easily accessible tool for novel experiments with AI systems.
The codebase offers pre/post survey programming, randomisation of AI agent conditions, and various data collection points beyond user input prompts and model token outputs. The developer hopes to encourage science that reaches beyond restricted survey designs, fake stimuli, wizard of oz manipulations, or mere verbal-responses to ungeneralisable observations. chatPsych aims to encourage real interactions with real AI systems.
chatPsych facilitates collection of a plethora of interaction data especially relevant to various human-AI interaction research. It may be easily scaled and customised for prospective behavioural research projects. Stimulus representativeness and psychological realism in relation to real-world AI systems is emphasised.
This interface offers a method for experimental designs that require prompt engineering, manipulating model hyperparameters, basic model comparison, content moderation, and more.
This interface aims to make interaction with real-world AI systems more accessible for experimentation. Integration with Prolific, MTurk or other platforms for online sampling is easy. Moreover, non-technical experts can design and run experiments using the built-in research dashboard GUI.
The incorporation of widely used AI systems into generalisable experiments is imperative for human-AI research!
For usage, questions or collaborations, please cite/contact the developer:
Oliver Lack
oliver.lack@adelaide.edu.au | oliver@oliverlack.com
oliverlack.com
Researcher Profile
Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML) | School of Psychology
Adelaide University, Australia
Playground
Try out the chatPsych interface using a randomised AI agent
Prolific_ID = 'your name'
Password = castle
If you want to test out making your own experiment, use the researcher login
Researcher_Username = admin
Researcher_Password = admin
Downloads
The chatPsych framework, including documentation and examples, is available on GitHub. Researchers can adapt or extend the code, incorporate new AI providers, or integrate specialized experimental features. It is free and open-source, encouraging community-driven improvements.
chatPsych Source CodeFollow the repository’s instructions for server deployment, local testing, recommended environment setup, SSL certification, and database maintenance.
Example adaptions like Wordie-AI also demonstrate how to run multi-condition experiments.
License
MIT License
Copyright (c) 2025 Oliver Lack
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.
Versions / Adaptions
Wordie-AI
Wordie-AI demonstrates an experiment that assigns participants to AI agent files with different temperatures, models, and system messages. It implements a 'Wordgame', similar to an open-ended version of 20-questions.
Wordie-AI CodebaseDevelopers
Lead: Oliver C. Lack
Institutional Support: Australian Institute for Machine Learning & School of Psychology, University of Adelaide
We welcome collaboration and pull requests. Driving innovation through open-source practices ensures the platform grows with new AI features and research needs.
For usage, questions or collaborations, please cite and contact:
Oliver Lack
oliver.lack@adelaide.edu.au | oliver@oliverlack.com
oliverlack.com
Researcher Profile
Blog
Our blog will feature usage guides, updates on newly integrated AI models, tutorials for lab-based or online expansions, and posts highlighting researchers’ findings.
We encourage the community to contact us about adaptions, updates, and research successes.