Human Technology Interaction, a key factor in our times

Social designer Timothy Liu tackled the topic Lifetime Warranty. He will draw the imaginary romance – like a tango – that rethinks the emerging relationship with our domestic appliances: choosing and operating, supporting and caring for each other: ‘Domestic appliances are our digital companions that bring the forward-looking, the progressive and the innovative into our everyday lives. In the coming years emotions and technology will become so intertwined with each other that the domestic appliances might also choose their significant users. How do we choose the best appliance partner from the unlimited options? Will they also have a say in the contractual promise for a lifelong warranty?

Emma van Zoelen uses her expertise in human-centered AI and design research methods to focus on the designing of human-machine collaboration: ‘As artificially intelligent systems become more ubiquitous and prevalent, they become more autonomous, taking over the responsibilities of people. I believe that tasks will arise in which humans and machines will have to collaborate to make optimal use of the qualities of both. This means that the design of human-machine interaction will need to change to also incorporate collaborative interactions, looking at the adaptive capabilities of the human as well as the machine. This is a step further than regular human-computer interaction: questions of responsibility, trust and mutual adaptability are even more important. How should we deal with this in design, and how can we research such topics?’

Provocative prototypers Arvid Jense and Marie Caye speculated on non-human design. They are sure it will be possible to design for a collaborative future between human and non-human, organic and non-organic: ‘What will be our apocalypse? To avoid the further destruction of our world, we need to realize we are sharing it with many other entities, animals, systems and more recently also machines.’ Arvid&Marie are developing an approach to design for the non-human and to discuss the implications of a technological world.

This edition is made possible by Art + Tech Society.

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