Human-Machine Interaction

Human-Machine Interaction

We're going to ignore the alignment topic here and focus on the interaction between humans and machines as an interface . This is a broad topic, but we'll focus on the following:

• Assistive technologies
• Augmented intelligence (AI as an exo-skeleton for your mind)
• Brain-computer interfaces (BCI)
• Hardware and software interfaces for the various interaction points, especially under multi-modal conditions.

Assistive technologies

Assistive technologies are technologies that help people with disabilities. This includes things like wheelchairs, hearing aids, and screen readers.

• It also includes things like the OrCam which is a device that attaches to your glasses and reads text to you.
• BeMyEyes is an app that connects blind people with sighted people to help them with tasks like reading labels or finding things. This video shows a blind person using the OrCam and BeMyEyes to find a specific item in a grocery store.

Less obvious examples of assistive technologies of my own interest include:

• Prevention of elder-abuse and ethical companionship for the elderly, especially those impacted by dementia or Alzheimer's Disease
• Turning specialty devices for disabilities into augmented and supercharged devices that provide superhuman abilities to the user. For example, a hearing aid that can hear frequencies outside the normal human range, a wheelchair that can climb stairs, or a prosthetic limb that can lift 1000 pounds.