HAI Weekly Seminar with James Landay

AI has the potential to automate people out of their jobs, and in some cases, it will. But while we should carefully consider the risk of replacing human capabilities, it’s important to realize that AI has enormous potential to augment them as well: it can boost the creativity of our work, help us learn better, deliver healthcare more effectively, and make our societies more sustainable. Like any tool, however, AI and its relationship with humans has as much to do with its interface as it does with the underlying capabilities it provides. Does it amplify our actions and remain attentive to our goals—even as we revise them—or is it a black box that accomplishes tasks autonomously? If we want to build a future of open possibility and empowerment, it’s vital that our ability to harness AI evolves alongside AI itself. I will illustrate how we are addressing grand challenges in fields like health and education by building systems that balance innovative user interfaces with intelligent systems.