At Google, I publish a periodic, internal newsletter on the state of applied AI, with a particular focus on automation, productivity, and knowledge work.
I'm a design technologist who follows algorithmic design innovations closely. I'm struck by the lack of the word human(s) or user(s) in this article. It's frankly a bit scary when a leader with a background in design at a company the size of Google doesn't talk about humans or users. (I get that your algorithmic scientists have abstracted everything and everyone to tokens.) Does applied AI work at Google involve humans? Was it just this post in particular that was particularly heavy on intelligence and the brain? Will future posts cover the people and communities that are affected and possibly harmed by the scale of the machines you're imaging deploying to humans?
Hi Robb, thanks for the feedback. Yes, this particular issue is heavily focused on technical prognostications. For me, maintaining an informed intuition for the frontier of scientific discovery is the best way to stay capable when it comes to building products for people (hence the issue's framing on trends to watch). I appreciate your noting the lack of content on the human/user impact (including the risk of harm) and will take that into account in future writing.
Looking forward to following along!
I'm a design technologist who follows algorithmic design innovations closely. I'm struck by the lack of the word human(s) or user(s) in this article. It's frankly a bit scary when a leader with a background in design at a company the size of Google doesn't talk about humans or users. (I get that your algorithmic scientists have abstracted everything and everyone to tokens.) Does applied AI work at Google involve humans? Was it just this post in particular that was particularly heavy on intelligence and the brain? Will future posts cover the people and communities that are affected and possibly harmed by the scale of the machines you're imaging deploying to humans?
Hi Robb, thanks for the feedback. Yes, this particular issue is heavily focused on technical prognostications. For me, maintaining an informed intuition for the frontier of scientific discovery is the best way to stay capable when it comes to building products for people (hence the issue's framing on trends to watch). I appreciate your noting the lack of content on the human/user impact (including the risk of harm) and will take that into account in future writing.