Pratyush Singh

This formative study explores how second-language (L2) speakers envision personal AI assistants (PAIAs) supporting face-to-face communication with native speakers. Through participatory sessions with 14 bilingual adults combining scenario generation, role-play, and diagramming, we surfaced preliminary tensions in AI-mediated L2 interaction: managing conversational flow, balancing transparency with naturalness, and navigating context-dependent privacy. Our exploratory findings suggest three candidate mediation patterns (solo, symmetric, and relayed assistance), each with distinct trade-offs that warrant further investigation. We contribute initial design considerations including reply-when-free defaults and role-based privacy profiles, alongside a replicable protocol for eliciting AI behavior expectations. These preliminary insights establish a foundation for future empirical work on PAIAs in multilingual communication contexts.