UXPA Boston Conference 2024

AI is the current “thing” in technology today; the latest buzz going back to the end of 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT. We not only hear the buzz in our circle of tech and business but also in the greater society. It seems every day there is an article in a leading news or business outlet discussing the pros and cons of AI. In general, it is hard to know what to think and believe. It is clear UX professionals are needed; according to the AI and Job Quality Insights from Frontline Workers by Stephanie Bell from the Partnership on AI, “Current implementations of AI in work are reducing workers’ opportunities for autonomy, judgment, empathy, and creativity” [1].

UX professionals are asking lots of questions. There is a lot of discussion on how UX professionals can use AI to help us become more efficient. Will UX designers or UX researchers be replaced by AI? What is the future of work both for UX professionals and society as a whole? These are interesting questions that I am not sure anyone knows the answers to as we cannot predict the future. Another interesting question that I believe the UX profession is thinking about today is what kind of role UX professionals should have in the design process of AI systems. However, for this UXPA Boston talk, I want to start with a more basic question: what does good UX in AI look like?