April (Zoom) 04/12/2023

Human-AI Integration

If we think of Artificial Intelligence as a building material, we can ask the question: What tools will we build with AI that will improve our lives? Much of the current effort related to AI is going into improving the material--AI--with new and impressive algorithms and models being released almost daily. However, not much work has yet gone into using this new material to build tools for solving the real-world needs of people. Our speaker will present research on the design of AI-based tools, including a particular focus on therapy and accessibility.

Dr. Misha Sra, Assistant Professor, UCSB Computer Science Department

Dr. Misha Sra is the John and Eileen Gerngross Assistant Professor in Computer Science at UCSB, where she directs the Human-AI Integration Lab. She received her PhD at the MIT Media Lab in 2018. Dr. Sra has published at the most selective human-computer interface and virtual reality venues such as ACM's Conference on Human Factors (CHI), Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST), Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST), and Designing Interactive Systems (DIS), where she received multiple best paper awards and honorable mentions. From 2014-2015, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation well-being research fellow at the Media Lab. In spring 2016, she received the Silver Award in the annual Edison Awards Global Competition, which honors excellence in human-centered design and innovation. MIT selected her as an EECS Rising Star in 2018. Her research has received extensive media coverage from leading media outlets such as Engadget, UploadVR, MIT Tech Review, and Forbes India. Her work has drawn the attention of industry research, including Samsung and Unity 3D.