ICSE 2026
Sun 12 - Sat 18 April 2026 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Mon 13 Apr 2026 16:40 - 16:55 at Bora Bora IV - Bots and Chatbots

Large Language Model (LLM)–based chatbots have become central interfaces in technical, educational, and analytical domains, supporting tasks such as code reasoning, problem solving, and information exploration. As these systems scale, sustainability concerns have intensified, with most assessments focusing on model architecture, hardware efficiency, and deployment infrastructure. However, existing mitigation efforts largely overlook how user interaction practices themselves shape the energy profile of LLM-based systems. In this vision paper, we argue that interaction-level behavior is an underexamined factor shaping the environmental impact of LLM-based systems, and we outline this issue across four dimensions. First, extended conversational patterns increase token production and raise the computational cost of inference. Second, expectations of instant responses limit opportunities for energy-aware scheduling and workload consolidation. Third, everyday user habits contribute to cumulative operational demand in ways that are rarely quantified. Fourth, the accumulation of context affects memory requirements and reduces the efficiency of long-running dialogues. Addressing these challenges requires rethinking how chatbot interactions are designed and conceptualized, and adopting perspectives that recognize sustainability as partly dependent on the conversational norms through which users engage with LLM-based systems.

Mon 13 Apr

Displayed time zone: Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil change

16:00 - 17:25
Bots and ChatbotsBoatSE at Bora Bora IV
16:00
40m
Keynote
Keynote speech — The Fall-Off of Bots in Software Engineering
BoatSE

16:40
15m
Talk
Reconsidering Conversational Norms in LLM Chatbots for Sustainable AI
BoatSE
Ronnie de Souza Santos University of Calgary, Cleyton Magalhaes Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Italo Santos University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Pre-print
16:55
15m
Talk
Patterns of Bot Participation and Emotional Influence in Open Source Development
BoatSE
Matteo Vaccargiu University of Cagliari, Riccardo Lai University of Cagliari, Maria Ilaria Lunesu Università degli studi di Cagliari, Andrea Pinna University of Cagliari, Giuseppe Destefanis University College London
17:10
15m
Talk
Bita: A Conversational Assistant for Fairness Testing
BoatSE
Keeryn Johnson University of Calgary, Cleyton Magalhaes Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Ronnie de Souza Santos University of Calgary
Pre-print