What Do You Mean? Exploring How Humans and AI Interact with Symbols and Meanings in Their Interactions

Meaningful human-AI collaboration requires more than processing language, it demands a better understanding of symbols and their constructed meanings. While humans naturally interpret symbols through social interaction, AI systems treat them as patterns with compressed meanings, missing the dynamic meanings that emerge through conversation. Drawing on symbolic interactionism theory, we conducted two studies (N=37) investigated how humans and AI interact with symbols and co-construct their meanings. When AI introduced conflicting meanings and symbols in social contexts, 63% of participants reshaped their definitions. This suggests that conflicts in symbols and meanings prompt reflection and redefinition, allowing both participants and AI to have a better shared understanding of meanings and symbols. This work reveals that shared understanding emerges not from agreement but from the reciprocal exchange and reinterpretation of symbols, suggesting new paradigms for human-AI interaction design.