Don Norman and Mick McManus on "Design in the Age of AI: A design debate"

A Google TechTalk, 12/15/16, presented by Don Norman and Mickey McManus ABSTRACT: As the number of increasingly intelligent machines increases and their role shifts from automating labor to playing games and exploring concepts, what role will human designers take? Previously, some capabilities were relegated to humans--empathy, intuition, leaps of imagination, and creativity. But as we build intelligent assistants, automatic translators, and self-directed systems, how will we design them--how will we understand them--and how will we study them? Will humans be competitors, collaborators, midwives, or something never before imagined? How can you design with system components which may have unpredictable behaviors? Join Don Norman and Mickey McManus as they box a few rounds in a lively debate to explore this important and timely topic. About the speakers Mickey McManus is a pioneer in the field of collaborative innovation, pervasive computing, human-centered design and education. He is a principal of MAYA Design and the chairman of the board. For over a decade, Mickey served as MAYA’s president, delivering above industry average profit margins—year over year—while consistently re-investing substantial funds back into MAYA’s R&D efforts. These investments form the core of a pool of intellectual property, trade secrets—and most importantly talent—that drives MAYA’s agility, adaptability, and success. Mickey co-authored Trillions: Thriving in the Emerging Information Ecology (Wiley 2012). The book is a field guide to the future, where computing will cease to be confined to any particular “box,” but instead be freely accessible in the ambient environment. Don Norman has been a University Professor, a corporate advisor and board member, well-known author and speaker. Most recently he is the Director of the newly established (2014) Design Lab UCSD. He is also co-founder of the Nielsen Norman group and an honorary Professor at Tongji University (Shanghai) in their College of Design and Innovation. He is an IDEO fellow and a member of the Board of Trustees of IIT's Institute of Design in Chicago. Don's latest books are Living with Complexity and The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded.