The Protagonist: Using Artificial Intelligence & Storytelling to Make Value-Based Career Decisions

Choosing what career to pursue is an important life decision for many. For students in higher education, career indecision can be a major source of anxiety. Values play an essential role in helping one clarify their identity and find a meaningful career that is aligned with one’s authentic self. After a review of the limitations of existing quantitative value clarification tools and explicating the benefits of its qualitative and narrative-based alternatives, this paper proposes a technology-empowered value discovery intervention in the form of a smartphone application (and companion site) that aims to promote and semi-automate the value discovery and mobilization process and bolster the career decision-making and well-being of college students. A proposal for the app is presented in the context of the theories and practices that support its design. A brief review of the technological capabilities that enable text analysis automation would also be discussed.