Image by Alan Warburton / © BBC / Better Images of AI / Virtual Human / CC-BY 4.0
How can we design critical thinking tools to anticipate, understand and address the complex impacts of automation and AI systems in society, culture and the environment? How can we develop fair consent and attribution systems for generative AI tools and chatbots such as ChatGPT? How can we create visual narratives and media guidelines that help demystify Artificial Intelligence and frame its applications as Socio-Technical Systems for a broader audience?
Elisava, the School of Design and Engineering of Barcelona, has partnered with the creative research lab IAM to launch a new Master in Design for Responsible Artificial Intelligence, a part-time and low residency programme that brings together designers, strategists, trend researchers, futurists, new media artists, cultural producers, journalists and creative technologists to tackle precisely these kinds of questions.
The accelerated adoption of AI systems across industries for process, task and decision automation and the use of machine learning techniques in areas such as natural language comprehension or image and speech recognition that are enabled by the exponential growth of computational power, planetary-scale data collection technologies and a data-driven media culture, currently obsessed with the uncanny outputs of generative AI tools, are bringing interrelated ethical, societal and environmental challenges and also unprecedented opportunities for innovative applications in the Creative and Cultural industries.
This why Elisava and IAM are joining forces to create a collective learning experience that provides a broad range of tech workers with technical and non-technical backgrounds with an open space to develop skills in creative research, context analysis, critical thinking and storytelling, and strategic decision-making while exploring the philosophical boundaries of knowledge, creativity or language in computation and investigating the multiple ways in which AI systems are impacting our daily lives.
The part-time and blended learning programme of the Master in Design for Responsible Artificial Intelligence is offered in a low-residency mode over 10 months starting in September and is delivered via a mix of synchronous remote learning sessions and 3 in-person residencies in Barcelona, adapting to the needs of participants who need to make their studies compatible with their jobs, projects and family life.
Meet the faculty
Under the creative direction of Andres Colmenares, co-founder of IAM and co-director of the Billion Seconds Institute, the Master is bringing together a faculty made up of a transdisciplinary network of specialists who are working from diverse perspectives on the complex questions and challenges related to the design and impact of digital technologies, including Xiaowei Wang, artist, write and author of the book “Blockchain Chicken Farm: And Other Stories of Tech In China’s Countryside”; Buse Çetin, AI researcher and co-founder of Dreaming Beyond AI; Simone Rebaudengo, product and interaction designer, co-founder of oio studio; Ariel Guersenzvaig, Expert in ethics of design and technology. Author of “The Goods of Design: A professional Ethics for Designers” ; Michelle Thorne, Director of Strategy and Partnerships at the Green Web Foundation and co-organizer of Open Climate; Caroline Sinders, machine-learning-design researcher and artist; Filippo Cuttica. Former UX Principal for Ethical Experiences at the BBC and co-founding member of the art collective IOCOSE; Nushin Yazdani, interaction and transformation designer, artist and AI researcher; Abdelrahman Hassan, Creative technologist, AI Strategist and Digital Ethics Specialist at IKEA; Martín Pérez Comisso, Researcher in Socio-Technical Systems; and Nadia Piet, creative technologist and founder of AIxDesign.
Applications open
Learn more about the Master in Design for Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Elisava website or join the mailing list and upcoming related events through the MDRAI link hub.
About Elisava
Elisava is an institution with 60 years of experience sharing knowledge to design and transform the world from Barcelona. The school is ranked as the 4th best design education institution in the 2022-23 academic year by the World Brand Design Society and is the Design and Engineering Faculty of Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), promoting education, knowledge and research, and offering Undergraduate, Master, postgraduate and specialised courses in the fields of design, engineering and communication. More information at: elisava.net
About IAM
IAM is a creative research lab that helps citizens and organisations make responsible decisions by using futures as tools to anticipate challenges and opportunities, while exploring the socio-ecological impacts of digital technologies and the internet(s) through collective learning initiatives as IAM Weekend and the Billion Seconds Institute, and commissioned projects with organisations such as WeTransfer, BBC, Tate, NESTA, SPACE10, University of Arts London, Red Bull, Mobile World Capital Foundation and Open Knowledge Foundation. More information at: iam-internet.com
Images used in this article were created by CGI artist Alan Warburton for Better Images for AI, a non-profit creating more realistic and inclusive images of artificial intelligence. More information at: betterimagesofai.org
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