Sunday, 17 July 2016, 09:00 - 12:30

Martin Maguire (short bio)
Design School, Loughborough University, United Kingdom

Objectives:

The aim of this tutorial will be to give delegates an appreciation of what artificial intelligence within computer systems is, the range of applications where it is applied, and an understanding of how it can impact on user-system interaction. It will offer some high level guidelines or tools for the design of user interfaces to AI-based systems to enable them to be more effective as partners with humans.

Content and Benefits:

The tutorial will start by posing the question of what is ‘artificial intelligence (AI)’ and how does it work? It will present some basic ideas that underlie AI such as Bayes Theory, neural networks and knowledge elicitation, and give examples to illustrate them.

It will discuss the problems of rule-based solutions to problem solving applications such as medical diagnosis or complex systems management, and to consider how they can fulfil a useful role alongside human diagnosis. During the session, delegates will be presented with a scenario of managing a developing emergency situation but assisted by an AI system, as a way to think about how people might react to the advice given and the implications of employing it.

Machine learning will also be addressed as a way for systems to gain knowledge about the world or of a particular domain, without having to program the system with rules. Machine perception will also be discussed and how this area of technical development already plays a role in specialist areas of HCI, such as face and voice recognition, x-ray screening, automobile assembly, and even aesthetic judgment.

The use of different media for communication with an AI system will be addressed including the use of voice recognition for input and voice synthesis and text display to respond to enquiries, for example via a mobile phone, and how simple retrieval of information from the internet may evolve into something smarter.

For "intelligent" control systems, the idea of levels of autonomy will be introduced and the implications for allowing the system different levels of autonomy from human intervention.

Consideration will be given to embodied AI in the form of robots deployed in domestic situations, acting as office assistants, as part of assembly lines, as pet-like creatures, and how embodiment affects user interaction.

The presentation will discuss AI in relation to the internet of things and discuss with the audience what a future world might be like in a sensor saturated environment or how people might feel seeing robots as autonomous beings roaming free in everyday life.

The intended benefits of the course will be:

• To give delegates some ideas about how incorporating AI features into a system may affect the user’s interaction with it.
• To offer a human factors or UX design agenda for discussion when participating in a design process incorporating systems intelligence.
• To learn some principles applicable within user interface and UX design to maximise the effectiveness of the system for the user.
• To share the ideas and experiences of delegates to broaden knowledge of AI and user interaction for the whole class.

Target audience:

The tutorial will run for half a day. It will not assume any technical knowledge and is intended for designers, human factors personal, and HCI researchers, interested in the implications incorporating AI into interactive systems. It will only cover AI at an introductory level so may be less suitable for those who are specialists in this area.

Bio Sketch of Presenter:

Martin Maguire has a background in computer studies and ergonomics. His interests are in the usability and accessibility of interactive system, the use of IT in health, information design and intelligence within interactive systems. He has been involved in several EU projects to develop human factors tools, methods and guidelines to promote usability within European IT programmes. He has conducted usability appraisals of IT and web-based systems for many organisations in the UK public and private sectors. Within the Design School at Loughborough University he teaches HCI and user-experience design.