In 2019, GPT-2 could not reliably count to ten. Only four years later, deep learning systems can write software, generate photorealistic scenes on demand, advise on intellectual topics, and combine language and image processing to steer robots. As AI developers scale these systems, unforeseen abilities and behaviors emerge spontaneously without explicit programming. Progress in AI has been swift and, to many, surprising.
— Managing AI Risks in an Era of Rapid Progress, Bengio, Hinton, et al.
Along with rapid advancements in AI research, there are increasing concerns. Many concerns stem from a growing disconnect between the technology-centric approach to the creation of AI technologies and their inextricable embedding into complex personal, social, and cultural contexts. The theme of the Spring 2024 Design@Large is AI and the New Information Age. A primary focus is designing information spaces, places that foster thinking, in this new information age.
Design@Larges talks are on Wednesdays (dates below), 4-5pm, in the Design and Innovation Building Room 208.
April 10 | “AI For Good” Isn’t Good Enough: A Call for Human-Centered AI
AI for Good initiatives recognizes the potential impacts of AI systems on humans and societies. However, simply recognizing these impacts is not enough.
James Landay is a professor at Stanford University and the co-founder of Stanford’s Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). He specializes in human-centered artificial intelligence. With experience in both industry and academia, he has received awards such as the ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Research Award.
April 17 | Intelligence Augmentation through the Lens of Interactive Data Visualization
Recent rapid advances in machine learning have brought new energy to the future of human + machine partnerships. In this talk, I will use three research threads on interactive data visualization to better understand the balance between automation and augmentation.
Arvind Satyanarayan is an assistant professor at MIT’s department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He leads the Visualization Group, focusing on intelligence augmentation through data visualization, with wide adoption in data science communities.
April 24 | A Conversation with Gloria Mark
Gloria Mark is a Chancellor’s Professor at UC Irvine, and studies how digital media affects multitasking and interruptions. She was recognized by the ACM SIGCHI Academy in 2017 and has been featured in major media outlets like the New York Times and CNN.
May 8 | A Conversation with Andy Matuschak
Andy Matuschak is an applied researcher who innovates user interfaces to boost human intellect, notably reimagining books for better learning, with prior leadership roles at Khan Academy and contributions to iOS development at Apple.
May 22 | Dynamic Representations: Past, Present, and Future
Dynamic representations leverage the power of digital media by embodying computation & interaction. By examining some examples of such representations in animation, design, & education, this talk will reflect on their traits, current design practices, & their limitations.
Rubaiat Habib is an Adobe Research Scientist, designing computing tools for improved thinking and communication, with his research leading to globally recognized products like Autodesk Sketchbook Motion and Adobe Fresco.
May 29 | 40 Years of Chasing Users Down Rabbit Holes: Lessons Learned in Human-System Research
For the past four decades, my research in people and AI-systems has been guided by a fundamental principle: understanding how people actually interact with complex systems, not just how we think they might.
Dan Russell currently teaches in the Human-AI group at Stanford’s Computer Science Department, and was in the core search engineering team at Google for over 17 years. He is the author of The Joy of Search.
