The future of AI legibility podcast

This month, the futurists podcast team were joined by Paul Caulton (@ProfTriviality) and Franziska Pilling from Lancaster University (@ImaginationLancs). To give you a sense of place, while we were all sitting in home offices, Paul was swinging gently in a hammock being serenaded by birds. As such, the song of sunset going on in the background is 100% organic; no birds were harmed in the making of this podcast.

Paul and Franziska have been looking into the emerging field of AI legibility. Their research focuses on how the complex ideas behind AI can be translated into simplified terms that give the average person a better idea of what a particular AI is doing behind the scenes. As Paul points out, when most people think of AI, they immediately go to killer robots but the reality is that AI is far more mundane and is probably just calculating your credit score. For now at least…

Understanding what various AIs do is an essential component of informed consent. The pair argue that since most people are unaware of the various AIs and algorithms they encounter most days, they do not have the information they need to make a decision. As Franziska points out, there is a significant danger in the mundane because when you aren’t really paying attention, it is easy to give away more data than you intended. Presenting people with icons to designate particular functions or uses of data could become a shorthand to allow people to understand AI functionality better and, therefore, make informed decisions about their use of AIs.

And yet, the difficulty with this project is that often simplification obscures depth and nuance of meaning. A single icon might give someone an idea of what an AI is doing but this is not the same transparency as showing them the code at work. Here lies the issue. Where is the balance between offering a simple explanation and fully explaining an idea?

Listen to our podcast here | direct mp3

To find out more about Paul and Franziska’s project, visit their website here: http://imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/project/uncanny-ai/

The Future Post-Covid19

As the pandemic continues, the future, or at least possible futures, seem to change with every passing day. Many commentators have noted that at such a time we have the opportunity to choose how we progress. We can decide to return to normal or we can choose a new direction. We have a chance to address issues such as inequality and healthcare but we can also tackle the biggest crisis we are likely to face: climate change. 

One of the key themes that returns to the futurists almost every month, though it is never expressly spoken about, is that the future is always up for grabs. We are constantly shaping what tomorrow will look like, whether this is a conscious decision or not. This is why talking about the future is so important. From our vantage point, anything is possible. 

In this podcast, the futurists team, Ahmed, Hannah, Ian, Caroline and Georgia discuss these important questions. We debate the pros and cons of the new NHSX app for tracking and tracing. We talk about how different approaches could advance our progress against climate change. We talk about how the pandemic has exposed inequalities within society. 

While we might not reach any particular conclusions within this podcast, we do hope to raise some interesting questions. Conversations about the future often start with “what if?” 

So, with that, here it is:

Podcast links

Archive.org page for the podcast and the direct download in mp3 format.

Links mentioned

NHSX

Inequalities

Environment

MCR Futurists lock down podcast with Chris Sizemore

Since the coronavirus has made getting together for our usual talk impossible, this month (April – we’re sorry we’re a little late!) we have decided to discuss our subject in a responsibly socially-distant manner. So, we are very proud to present the very first in a series of Manchester Futurists podcasts. 

Our guest this month was Chris Sizemore who has taken an interest in the notion of synthesized realities for a long time. The definition of synthesized realities is difficult to pin down but broadly speaking, a synthesized reality is constructed through a variety of synthesized means. So, a synthesized reality might include a visual component such as VR or AR, it might be purely auditory and geolocated to provide certain information at a certain point. 

Synthesized realities are already well established within our culture, whether we are aware of it or not. Literature, film and TV are often the best places to find examples but the most famous is probably The Matrix where the whole world has been fabricated. In these examples, the synthesized reality is often there to question what reality is or how people behave in different circumstances. Take a look at this compilation:

 

These synthesized realities are quite easy to spot and the characters are usually aware – at least in the end. But as the technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated there are real risks associated with synthesized realities. We should already be cautious about the information we trust on the internet but what happens when you just can’t tell whether a video is real or manipulated? 

In our podcast, we discussed all these ideas and more. As always, feel free to tweet us with your comments or raise some questions of your own @mcrfuturists 

Original meetup page

https://www.meetup.com/Manchester-Futurists/events/268861960/

Podcast links

Archive.org page for the podcast and the direct download in mp3 format.

 

The Art, Science and Technology of Responsive Media

We are all used to following sat navs or asking Google for directions. Indeed, lots of people have welcomed Google and Alexa into their homes to ask questions, control the lights and even order their shopping. But responsive media is still a very young industry. 

Responsive media is any media that responds to a set of variables, for example, a sat nav responds according to where the user is and where they want to go. We are at the very beginning of discovering what responsive media can do and how it might influence and disrupt the way we live. This means that, at the moment, many of the approaches to responsive media design are focused on novelty and exploration rather than creating something really useful! Designers are creating the building blocks for future technologies.

Our speaker, Phil Stenton worked in responsive media for most of his career, though, like most creatives, he didn’t quite know it at the time! Design often works by having one idea and then another and another – you can see the beginnings of responsive media only by looking back. 

Mark Weisner was a central figure in the move towards responsive media. In 1988, he pioneered the idea of ubiquitous technology, moving away from the shackles of the desktop and beginning to consider wearable technology – even if those wearables were enormous at the time! 

Together with John Seely Brown, Mark Weisner wrote Designing Calm Technology, a paper which outlines the ways in which computers can move to the periphery of our attention. The purpose of this is to allow people to interact with computers more casually and crucially, on a more natural, human level. For example, asking Google or Alexa a question verbally replicates asking another person – you don’t need to sit down in a specific seat to load up a computer to open a tab to type in the question. This is a perfect example of how responsive media is beginning to influence our lives and interactions with technology. 

If you would like to read more about Calm Technology, Amber Case brings these ideas into the 21st century in her book of the same name. 

Over his career, Phil has experimented with various kinds of responsive media. One awesome example was the 1831 RIOT! App. This immersive audio app allowed people to wander around Queen Square in Bristol listening in on conversations happening around them, effectively recreating the 1831 riot. The intrigue of this project is that not everyone will have the same experience while moving around the square. Some people will overhear conversations that others will miss simply because they weren’t in the right place at the right time. The result is that those who participated in the experience came away with plenty to talk about! 

An updated version of the app is still available on Google Play if you fancy giving it a go. 

Of course, now that responsive media is moving into the home, we are beginning to feel more cautious about how and why we use it. While we tend to like the novelty of responsive media, when an object starts to collect personal data in order to refine the responsivity, several ethical questions arise. 

One example Phil gave was responsive media for kids. While giving children an opportunity to talk to technology and influence what and how they learn, there is also a worry that children could give away too much personal data or don’t understand exactly what is happening. At this point, responsive media steps up to and over the line between useful and creepy – a line that we discussed at our Future of the Book meet-up a while ago. Writers are already capitalising on the creepiness of responsive media to write ghost stories! 

So what is the future of responsive media going to look like?

To be honest, we can’t be sure. As responsive media is such a young industry, there are a lot of questions left to be answered. How much data are we willing to share for convenience? How do we want to interact with technology? To what extent do designers need to reimagine their roles to incorporate external factors such as location? 

Answering these questions will be central as responsive media matures and it will be exciting to see what sort of solutions the industry puts forward. 

Listen to the Full Talk

Reading List to Take Home

Designing Calm Technology, Mark Weisner and John Seely Brown

Calm Technology, Amber Case 

Our Next Event:

The Future of Synthesised Realities: Seeing != Believing 

https://www.meetup.com/Manchester-Futurists/events/268861960/

The Future of Personal Data: Designing a “Qualified Self”

Data is everywhere and your personal data is probably a greater commodity than you realise. We are all used to the idea that Facebook, Google and Amazon, amongst others, collect personal data in order to create targeted ads and we are aware that personal data can impact a wide range of issues. But most of us don’t seem to realise that we too can use our personal data to our advantage. 

In our first talk of 2020, researchers at Lancaster University introduced us to new ideas and research surrounding the data collection industry. Working with several volunteers, including MCR Futurists Ian and Hannah, the team have built up a series of data collecting devices aiming to unpack the nature of personal data collection and what it means to the people collecting it. 

The evening was designed to be similar to an Apple presentation. Georgia (another MCR Futurist!) first presented a design fiction intended to provoke the volunteers and inspire new thinking about personal data. The design fiction was based on the idea that the NHS could bring out health-based implants to collect data. People would be able to pay to avoid allowing 3rd parties to access their data (which would be used in research) but they could also access the tech for free if they were willing to share. 

This design fiction naturally infuriated the volunteers during their first workshop! Issues of privacy and the problem with allowing wealth to be a differentiating factor in data collection were hotly contested during a lengthy discussion at the workshop. 

But the main point of the design fiction was to get the ball rolling and figure out which features and attributes are most important when designing a method for data collection. Privacy was, perhaps, the most discussed issue, particularly as people have become more aware of the compromises they are making everyday without really thinking about it. From here, the research team created a number of prototypes – one for each volunteer – based on their priorities and interests. 

While each prototype spoke to an individual volunteer, the Lancaster team then wanted to combine elements of each, essentially asking where the volunteers would compromise. Then the process started again with the researchers producing a further two prototypes from the discussions they had with the volunteers. 

Seeing the prototypes in action was a great chance to see the design process and the imaginative ways that the researchers have interpreted the needs of their volunteers. After the talk, it was also interesting to see the audience going to handle the objects and ask questions about their use. Indeed, the research team didn’t waste the opportunity to gather more opinions and quizzed the group to find out what they thought. 

Georgia said, “we had a great time presenting to the Manchester Futurists who really engaged with our work and asked a lot of interesting questions too. Definitely a fun group to present to!”

 

Listen to the Full Talk

Reading List to Take Home

The Quantified Self, Deborah Lupton

Sites to Visit

www.sensemake.org

Who to Follow

@Designinf

@ImaginationLanc


Our Next Event:

The Future of Personal Data: Designing a ‘Qualified Self’ 

https://www.meetup.com/Manchester-Futurists/events/268110086/