Against the Grid
Spring 2020 | Grad Design IIProject Brief
(excerpt)
This class investigates the design of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) at the site/scale/space of the neighborhood, the urban, but human-scale environment. As people traverse their day moving through interior and exterior, public and private spaces, how might pervasive AI systems manifest? (These terms are meant for broad interpretation and redefinition.) We are interested in the ecologies and complex outcomes created by a range of AI embedded in the environment--what would the interactions be like, how do the different systems interact with each other, and with humans? What role should design play?
From street lights containing audiovisual recognition systems that 'intelligently' track car and pedestrian traffic, parking spaces and gunshots, to emotional recognition systems in retail stores, to in-ear personal assistants, to cobots, co-authors, co-creators, co-designers in workplaces, autonomous AI systems are appearing in many of the spaces that we interact with directly or indirectly and are changing the character of the "local."
We're interested in challenging common definitions of "AI" and related concepts such as autonomy, smartness, serendipity, collaboration, and authorship. And further, how will the design of smart systems affect the machine expression of key aspects of intelligence including thinking, reasoning, intuition, creativity, personality, point-of-view, expertise and even enlightenment. How do these change, both for machines and the humans they interact with? What will it be like to collaborate with different forms of intelligence in day-to-day life?
This class investigates the design of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) at the site/scale/space of the neighborhood, the urban, but human-scale environment. As people traverse their day moving through interior and exterior, public and private spaces, how might pervasive AI systems manifest? (These terms are meant for broad interpretation and redefinition.) We are interested in the ecologies and complex outcomes created by a range of AI embedded in the environment--what would the interactions be like, how do the different systems interact with each other, and with humans? What role should design play?
From street lights containing audiovisual recognition systems that 'intelligently' track car and pedestrian traffic, parking spaces and gunshots, to emotional recognition systems in retail stores, to in-ear personal assistants, to cobots, co-authors, co-creators, co-designers in workplaces, autonomous AI systems are appearing in many of the spaces that we interact with directly or indirectly and are changing the character of the "local."
We're interested in challenging common definitions of "AI" and related concepts such as autonomy, smartness, serendipity, collaboration, and authorship. And further, how will the design of smart systems affect the machine expression of key aspects of intelligence including thinking, reasoning, intuition, creativity, personality, point-of-view, expertise and even enlightenment. How do these change, both for machines and the humans they interact with? What will it be like to collaborate with different forms of intelligence in day-to-day life?
Project Description
Ecological systems have been forced to adapt to man-made neighborhood infrastructures (e.g sidewalks, telephone poles, buildings) and imposed boundaries. Taking the neighborhood as context, this work begins to critique the design of AI systems; examining what ML algorithms have trained to look for, identify, and label reveals what humans privilege as worthy of seeing, as well as who gets to do the seeing.
Instead of generating neighborhoods with traditional modes of gridded boundary-setting that centers mostly on human wants and needs, this project seeks to shift this agency by considering non-human, natural and manufactured entities as ‘intelligent’ that are also worthy of consideration. This project explores how AI might be used to shift agency to ecological systems, enabling natural entities to indicate their needs, growth patterns, and shifting physical trajectories over time.