From photorealistic graphics to medical therapies: will Artificial Intelligence design everything? Join us at the upcoming HumanTech Meeting hosted by SWPS University, where we will delve into the role of AI in design. Our distinguished guests, Daniel Rosenberg from San José State University and Dr. Konrad Maj, head of the HumanTech Center, will lead the discussion.
Artificial Intelligence in service of design
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming integrated into various aspects of our lives, including design processes. From generating digital artwork and composing music to designing new products, AI's capabilities raise questions about its potential taking over of the design process. But can we trust the algorithms to shape our consumption and entertainment choices, and even healthcare decisions? And looking further - will our future be entirely dictated by AI?
In an era where applications cater to almost every aspect of our lives, we witness a profound transformation in our social interactions. Studies reveal a growing sense of isolation and detachment in a digitally dominated world. Beyond merely assessing user interfaces, we must consider the broader societal impacts of technological advancements.
In the forthcoming webinar of the HumanTech Meetings series, we will not only discuss the practical applications of AI in product design but also its potential to influence human civilization. Moreover, we will discuss whether current design paradigms are sufficient for navigating AI's evolving role.
Experts Daniel Rosenberg from San José State University, an authority in user experience (UX) and human-computer interaction (HCI), and Dr. Konrad Maj, the head of the HumanTech Center, specializing the social implications of technology, will share their insights during the session. Piotr Senkus from the University of Warsaw, expert in AI and business transformation, will moderate the meeting.
During the discussion panel, which will take place after the lectures, we will contemplate how to collaboratively develop technologies that support and enhance our social and emotional lives, taking into account our human needs and values instead of replacing them. David Sypniewski, Head of the AI Open Lab at SWPS University, will host the discussion.
Lectures will be held in Polish and English and will be translated simultaneously.
HumanTech Meetings
We live in an era of innovation, technological progress and digitalization. This current innovation drive may lead to unpredictable psychological and social outcomes. Therefore, it is crucial to establish collaborations between engineers, programmers, IT specialists and social scientists during initial phases of any new projects related to development of new technologies or services. Such collaborations may help to avoid mistakes and can support better development of new ideas.
The project is planned as a series of meetings, gathering academics and professionals from the technology sector from Poland and other countries. Each meeting will include two lectures, one delivered by a speaker from Poland and one presented by a guest from another country. The lectures will be followed by panel discussions, where panelists will represent different approaches to innovation and technology.
HumanTech Meetings is a project of SWPS University's Center for Social and Technological Innovation.
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Konrad Maj: Beyond the Interface: Towards Humanity-Centered Design
Every day, we experience the introduction of new technological inventions. Those that save lives or extend them are widely accepted. However, many others bring only short-term benefits to individuals, often burdened with significant social costs. Faced with a surge of applications offering solutions for almost everything, making us more self-sufficient – from entertainment, through information, to shopping and transactions – it's easy to forget that each technology is part of a broader social system and induces significant changes within it. And this goes beyond the classic example of smartphones. For instance, do we consider how self-service checkouts in stores reduce opportunities for spontaneous conversations and building local communities? Or do we ponder the effects that smart homes or e-book readers have on the local community? It seems that companies too often focus on the immediate benefits for the user, tailoring technology to their reported needs. Meanwhile, UX/UI designers, concentrating on user comfort and desired functionalities, may underestimate how technology impacts social relations and changes in daily behaviors, motivations, and emotions. Therefore, in my presentation, I will argue for the need for responsible, interdisciplinary, balanced design that takes into account the broader social, cultural, and ethical effects of new technologies. This way of thinking is the essence of the Humanity-Centered Design, encouraging the design of technologies that support the well-being of entire communities, not just individuals.
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Daniel Rosenberg: Designing for and with Artificial Intelligence
Rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are transforming the world in many ways. For the product designer or design strategy practitioner, this megatrend manifests itself in two orthogonal dimensions:
1. AI as a product design material – AI enables solutions that are smarter, faster, and can answer questions well beyond human capability alone. However, deploying them effectively and responsibly is essential for success.
2. AI designing the product for you – AI's generation of competent oil paintings and music based solely on a set of input requirements has been repeatedly demonstrated in the past decade. Emerging AIs can design entire digital user experiences, code them, and deploy to the cloud with one button click.
While AI automation can provide significant benefits in both megatrend dimensions, it also carries spectacular risks when deployed within life and death systems such as autonomous vehicles and medical products. Concurrently, generative AI for product design carries significant liability risk, along with the potential for employment disruption in creative and strategic job careers. In this guest lecture, Prof. Rosenberg will describe several case studies related to his work within both AI megatrend dimensions
Keynote Speakers
Daniel Rosenberg
Is the 2019 recipient of the ACM SigCHI Lifetime Practice Award for his combination of technical and leadership contributions to the HCI field over the past 45+ years. After many decades as an executive in the software industry, Daniel transitioned to his current role as a UX consultant and adjunct professor of HCI at San Jose State University in 2014. He serves on the advisory board of the Interaction Design Foundation, was the co-leader of the Future of Design Education project Design Methods Working Group, and also served as the founding editor of the "Business of UX" Forum in
ACM Interactions magazine for five years. Dan’s recent UX design consulting involves both the use of AI to create smart medical products and to automate the UX design process itself, thereby transforming it into a generative co-creation process between AI and human designers. In 2020, Dan published his well-known book, UX MAGIC, which documents the Semantic Interaction methodology he teaches at SJSU and to various corporations, as well as uses in his own consulting practice. To learn more about Dan, his books, other publications, and keynote presentations, or to contact him, visit
rCDOUX webpage
Konrad Maj
Ph.D.
Is a social psychologist, Head of the HumanTech Center at SWPS University in Warsaw and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology in Warsaw. He leads the HumanTech Meetings project and serves as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the HumanTech Summit. His research interests focus on the social and psychological aspects of new technologies, with particular emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), metaverse, and robotics. He also conducts research on human-robot interaction. Konrad has authored numerous scientific and popular science publications on social changes caused by technological progress. He was recognized as one of the 25 top alumni of the 25th Jubilee of SWPS University. In 2023, the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education awarded him the title "Popularizer of Science."