Ideas: Designing AI for people with Abigail Sellen

Behind every emerging technology is a great idea propelling it forward. In the new Microsoft Research Podcast series, Ideas, members of the research community at Microsoft discuss the beliefs that animate their research, the experiences and thinkers that inform it, and the positive human impact it targets.  In this episode, host Gretchen Huizinga talks with Distinguished Scientist and Lab Director Abigail Sellen. The idea that computers could be designed for people is commonplace today, but when Sellen was pursuing an advanced degree in psychology, it was a novel one that set her on course for a career in human-centric computing. Today, Sellen and the teams she oversees are studying how AI could—and should—be designed for people, focusing on helping to ensure new developments support people in growing the skills and qualities they value. Sellen explores those efforts through the AI, Cognition, and the Economy initiative—or AICE, for short—a collective of interdisciplinary scientists examining the short- and long-term effects of generative AI on human cognition, organizational structures, and the economy.Learn more:AI, Cognition, and the Economy (AICE) Responsible AI Principles and Approach | Microsoft AI  The Rise of the AI Co-Pilot: Lessons for Design from Aviation and Beyond The Myth of the Paperless Office