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We're currently working on a similar problem. I think the most important part of predictive design is personalization. The author doesn't explicitly call that o

We're currently working on a similar problem. I think the most important part of predictive design is personalization. The author doesn't explicitly call that out, but I think it leverages one of the big strengths of AI/ML. A human designer can't maintain even 10 personalized interfaces or mentally track 100-micro journeys. They also can't be present with every user to adapt in real time. An AI co-designer can. After a human designer outlines their intention the define the boundary conditions, the AI can start running MVP's. When the AI reports back on what results they're getting with different types of users/context, the designers can dig in together and iterate on "problem/opportunity" points in the product. I'm very excited about this future. Our page: https://www.boundless.ai/ https://www.boundless.ai/

randcraw 8y ago
From that website: "AI-Personalized, real-time UX interventions proven to rewire user behavior and drive your KPIs." 'Excitement' doesn't exactly describe my response.
- rchaud 8y ago
  What if the copy was AI-personalized to speak specifically to the Techcrunches and WIREDs of the world, who at least make the pretense of being excited about this stuff?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
eropple 8y ago
So uh...I don't know how to put this in a way that might not come off as hurtful, but I'm gonna try. Do you somehow not look at this sort of massive data mining, this sort of optimization for psychological assault upon people ill-equipped to defend themselves--and this is effectively a given, because the systems you are building are designed to exploit their brains and will by design optimize for maximal exploitation 'cause that's what makes your KPIs bigger--and ask whether this is a good idea? Do you want to be downstream of this psychological onslaught? Doesn't this horrify you? Isn't there something better--for yourself, and for the world at large--that you could be doing with such obvious talent?
- whatshisface 8y ago
  They don't have to be optimizing for Facebook addiction. They could instead be optimizing the safety of chemical plant control panels. Just because SV is almost wholly devoted to ads doesn't mean all software is.
  - eropple 8y ago
    Sure. But did you look at the website he linked? When your ad copy focuses on "maximizing user engagement", I know you're not on the side of the angels.
- RodgerTheGreat 8y ago
  I try to abide by a simple principle: Manipulate computers, don't manipulate people. To a programmer, a computer is a dutiful servant and nothing more. As much as programming colors my thoughts and provides intellectual delight, it would be troubling to find myself treating other people the way I regularly treat computers. Tools work on the behalf of users. If you write software that uses people, it has ceased to be a tool. You've written a trap.
- GuiA 8y ago
  The problems you outline do not need AI to exist; see Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc for those phenomenons at play in the wild. And so the answer to your questions are clear: there are people who, for a paycheck big enough, a title fancy enough, are willing to completely ignore the harmful effects that their vision and execution imposes on communities, individuals, democracies. The interesting problems in tech now include how to build tools and systems to make people aware of how they are being messed with, and fight back.
  - eropple 8y ago
    Of course--but those companies use AI specifically to, at scales previously impossible, directly personalize (and, frankly, entrap) people by exploiting bugs in the human firmware. To borrow a quote from a friend, "every time a social network abandons the chronological timeline, that's the moment they added AI." And I would like his justification for making the world a worse place.
konsalexee 8y ago
> I think the most important part of predictive design is personalization You can have personalisation a priori or a posteriori. You can have ML logic to adapt to your user's interactions like yours, that is a posteriori approach. Or design and have predictions about the user's interaction/attention/memorability and concepts like this which is a priori approach. Now for personalisation, the concept lies on the data mining approach we are taking as A.I. architects. If you are designing creatives, you cannot have a posteriori approach. Therefore, it is reasonable to mine data, create the prediction models, enable of course personalisation in a higher level and then let the user define the personalisation filters (like Grammarly did with quantification of the text). For the mobile usage, the posteriori approach seems to work, as you say with boundless.ai and seems promising. And I like the terminology of AI co-designer.

randcraw 8y ago

From that website: "AI-Personalized, real-time UX interventions proven to rewire user behavior and drive your KPIs." 'Excitement' doesn't exactly describe my response.

rchaud 8y ago
What if the copy was AI-personalized to speak specifically to the Techcrunches and WIREDs of the world, who at least make the pretense of being excited about this stuff?
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

eropple 8y ago

So uh...I don't know how to put this in a way that might not come off as hurtful, but I'm gonna try. Do you somehow not look at this sort of massive data mining, this sort of optimization for psychological assault upon people ill-equipped to defend themselves--and this is effectively a given, because the systems you are building are designed to exploit their brains and will by design optimize for maximal exploitation 'cause that's what makes your KPIs bigger--and ask whether this is a good idea? Do you want to be downstream of this psychological onslaught? Doesn't this horrify you? Isn't there something better--for yourself, and for the world at large--that you could be doing with such obvious talent?

whatshisface 8y ago
They don't have to be optimizing for Facebook addiction. They could instead be optimizing the safety of chemical plant control panels. Just because SV is almost wholly devoted to ads doesn't mean all software is.
- eropple 8y ago
  Sure. But did you look at the website he linked? When your ad copy focuses on "maximizing user engagement", I know you're not on the side of the angels.
RodgerTheGreat 8y ago
I try to abide by a simple principle: Manipulate computers, don't manipulate people. To a programmer, a computer is a dutiful servant and nothing more. As much as programming colors my thoughts and provides intellectual delight, it would be troubling to find myself treating other people the way I regularly treat computers. Tools work on the behalf of users. If you write software that uses people, it has ceased to be a tool. You've written a trap.
GuiA 8y ago
The problems you outline do not need AI to exist; see Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc for those phenomenons at play in the wild. And so the answer to your questions are clear: there are people who, for a paycheck big enough, a title fancy enough, are willing to completely ignore the harmful effects that their vision and execution imposes on communities, individuals, democracies. The interesting problems in tech now include how to build tools and systems to make people aware of how they are being messed with, and fight back.
- eropple 8y ago
  Of course--but those companies use AI specifically to, at scales previously impossible, directly personalize (and, frankly, entrap) people by exploiting bugs in the human firmware. To borrow a quote from a friend, "every time a social network abandons the chronological timeline, that's the moment they added AI." And I would like his justification for making the world a worse place.

konsalexee 8y ago

> I think the most important part of predictive design is personalization You can have personalisation a priori or a posteriori. You can have ML logic to adapt to your user's interactions like yours, that is a posteriori approach. Or design and have predictions about the user's interaction/attention/memorability and concepts like this which is a priori approach. Now for personalisation, the concept lies on the data mining approach we are taking as A.I. architects. If you are designing creatives, you cannot have a posteriori approach. Therefore, it is reasonable to mine data, create the prediction models, enable of course personalisation in a higher level and then let the user define the personalisation filters (like Grammarly did with quantification of the text). For the mobile usage, the posteriori approach seems to work, as you say with boundless.ai and seems promising. And I like the terminology of AI co-designer.