Exploring Mobile Touch Interaction with Large Language Models

Abstract

Interacting with Large Language Models (LLMs) for text editing on mobile devices currently requires users to break out of their writing environment and switch to a conversational AI interface. In this paper, we propose to control the LLM via touch gestures performed directly on the text. We first chart a design space that covers fundamental touch input and text transformations. In this space, we then concretely explore two control mappings: spread-to-generate and pinch-to-shorten, with visual feedback loops. We evaluate this concept in a user study (N=14) that compares three feedback designs: no visualisation, text length indicator, and length + word indicator. The results demonstrate that touch-based control of LLMs is both feasible and user-friendly, with the length + word indicator proving most effective for managing text generation. This work lays the foundation for further research into gesture-based interaction with LLMs on touch devices.

21 pages, 16 figures, 3 tables, ACM CHI 2025

References in corpus (4)

• A Design Space for Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistants
• Choice Over Control: How Users Write with Large Language Models using Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Prompting
• Patchview: LLM-Powered Worldbuilding with Generative Dust and Magnet Visualization
• Suggestion Lists vs. Continuous Generation: Interaction Design for Writing with Generative Models on Mobile Devices Affect Text Length, Wording and Perceived Authorship