The decision to hold a conference on persuasive technology in Hakodate seems somewhat appropriate. Due to its location at the southernmost point of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, the city has always been a meeting place due to its natural harbor, which attracted European traders, Russian merchants, and American warships arriving in the nineteenth century. It has always been a location where terms were negotiated between local realities and external forces. That negotiation took on a contemporary form in March 2026.
At Future University Hakodate, more than 120 researchers from 20 countries on five continents came together for the 21st International Conference on Persuasive Technology, or simply PERSUASIVE 2026. This was the first time the conference, which has been held since 2006, had visited Japan. People paid attention just because of that. However, the work being displayed inside captured their interest.
For those who are not familiar with the field, persuasive technology refers to systems that are intended to alter people’s actions, thoughts, or emotions without coercing them. This field encompasses all apps that encourage you to adopt healthier habits, checkout processes that subtly influence your choice, and chatbots that are designed to keep you interested for longer than you had planned. Not only were these systems being studied by the researchers gathered in Hakodate. Many of them were constructing them, evaluating them, and occasionally raising concerns about the direction the entire business was taking.
The program this year focused a lot on issues that seem truly urgent. Research on AI personalization coexisted with studies on dark patterns, or the subtle, frequently deceptive design decisions hidden in user interfaces that the majority of users are unaware of. Together with research on consent procedures for eye donations, a study on the frequency and perceived intrusiveness of dark patterns won the Best Paper Award. On the surface, the pairing seems odd. When you look more closely, you’ll see that both are posing the same awkward question: who gets to decide how much influence is too much?
The field seems to be at a turning point that it has been getting closer to for years. The majority of early persuasive technology research was upbeat and concentrated on educational resources, anti-smoking initiatives, and fitness applications. Persuasion was thought to point in positive directions. It is now more difficult to maintain that assumption without question, and the Hakodate sessions openly expressed this tension. Ethics, trust, and counter-persuasion sessions weren’t incidental. They felt in the center.
Beyond its content, PERSUASIVE 2026 was noteworthy because it coincided with the 8th International Conference on Activity and Behavior Computing. In northern Japan, two distinct but somewhat overlapping communities share space and conversations for a few days. It’s still unclear if this kind of cross-pollination results in quantifiable scientific advances or just interesting discussions in conference rooms. Each result has merit.
Work on personalized health interventions using reinforcement learning—a system that modifies its strategy based on people’s responses over time—won the best demo award. Seeing this kind of research presented in a place like Hakodate, where tradition and technological aspirations coexist in a way that feels less forced than in larger cities, added a layer that is difficult to describe but simple to sense. The location—a university renowned for its innovative, multidisciplinary environment—seemed appropriate for the topic.
The end of PERSUASIVE 2026. The researchers took a plane back home. Santiago de Compostela, Spain, another city whose history has been shaped by pilgrimage and arrival, will host the next edition. However, the discussion is far from over. Hakodate, if anything, increased the volume.
