Special Seminar: Hariharan Subramonyam "Centering People in the Design of AI Experiences"

Centering People in the Design of AI Experiences

Hariharan Subramonyam

Wednesday, 3 March at 18:00
via Zoom https://aalto.zoom.us/j/62320963677

Abstract: AI is now prevalent in both everyday and high-stakes software applications. However, end-users regularly encounter undesirable experiences from AI. A fundamental challenge is that existing software practices fall short when creating AI for diverse human needs. AI development prioritizes automation and task efficiency over other human values. User experience (UX) design methods fail to support the designer's role in shaping key AI components such as training-data, labels, and learning models. That means an "AI-first" approach will fail to integrate AI features within diverse human experiences effectively. In this talk, I provide an overview of the systems and techniques I have developed for centering people in the design of AI experiences. Using texSketch as an example system, I will illustrate the complex dependencies between AI and UI components in creating human-centered AI.  I will then talk about the role of end-user data as a design probe for UX and AI professionals to co-design AI experiences. Finally, I will offer solutions for UX designers to incorporate diverse human needs within AI application design.

Bio: Hari Subramonyam is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on ways to operationalize the vision of human-centered AI. By combining technical HCI research with qualitative studies of AI software development in practice, Hari brings multiple perspectives to bear on the cross-disciplinary problem of HAI. His work has received two Best Paper awards at CHI. Hari holds a bachelor's degree in Telecommunication Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University in India, and a master's degree in Information from the University of Michigan.