How To Speak Machine in the UK

I had the chance to talk at the LSE about my new book How To Speak Machine — it’s available mid-November but there were some early books made available. The UK version has fancy embossed lettering and a UV gloss spot varnish, with a slightly different subtitle and is available on Amazon.co.uk. The US edition is available over here.

Some Crowdsourced Info

A word cloud of related words on computation like "calculation" "logic" "problem solving" "statistics"
What is computation?
A word cloud with the largest names being "google" followed by "facebook" and "amazon."
What is the most powerful company in the world?

From the Q&A

Are we living in a computer simulation?
Maybe

Do you see any potential in the field of advertising?
Yes. If it’s dataful.

“Does the end of Moore’s law not invalidate the exponential argument fundamental to many of the predictions presented here?
Rodney Brooks has a good piece on this topic.

Examples of solutions With AI working with mental Health issues? In children?
Check out Nancy Lublin’s work.

Frictionless design of social media platforms makes it easy and quick for sharing fake news. If you were to redefine design principles for social media platforms, what would you do?
Jack did something interesting this week.

How can computation be an alien life form if it’s created by humans?
It’s a metaphor.

How could product designers in this fast paced environment get more involved in the area of tech ethics?
Here’s a list I started.

How do we deal with the subjective terminology humans use when “speaking machine”?
Dunno.

How far are we from developing artificial general intelligence?
I’m not sure.

How is AI changing the work force in terms of recruitment and retention?
It’s causing more fret and concern for sure.

How should governments regulate emerging technologies?
Learn to speak machine first, and then get involved.

How significant was Deep Blue’s victory over Chess Champion G Kasparov?
Big.

Is a future more about human or machines?
Humans with machines.

Is being holistic / well-rounded (US universities) better than being focused (UK universities)?
US universities are quite focused. Sorry.

Is participatory design and interaction design the future of designing IT
Teamwork makes the dreamwork.

Sometimes, AI is regarded as basic income (no human work effort), what will be left for human work?
We’ll need to figure that out!

What is the most important thing for business leaders to learn about AI, ML, and Design?
It’s got a lot of human bias in it.

What role does the humanities have in the digital age?
Increasing importance. Check out the work of Ian Bogost.

What’s your approach to designing a solution ( a product, service or anything else)
Try, fail, try, fail, and get lucky sometimes.

Where do you see design heading in the next decade?
Deeper into computation.

Where would you situate AI in the criminal justice system?
Problematic because imbalance can get automated.

Why is design unimportant in the long term?
Design’s always relevant when humans are involved.

Will machines replace teachers?
Some of them yes. Some of them no.

Any advice for students with no tech background?
Learn how to speak machine.

Any hybrid creature will appear combining human being and machine in the future?
When we carry our smartphones in our hands, we become hybrids.

Snapped on the way home at London Heathrow Airport