Computing Outside the Box

by Martha E. Pollack

University of Michigan

Date

Friday, April 10, 2009

Time

3:00 p.m. — 4:00 p.m.

Place

Lindley Hall 102

Abstract: In the fall of 2008, a workshop to discuss the future of computer and information science was held at the National Science Foundation, with the intentionally ambiguous title “Computing Outside the Box.” The phrase was intended to invoke the need both for innovative “outside the box” thinking in computer and information science, and for computational research that directly addresses problems that go beyond computers (electronic boxes) themselves. In this talk, I will focus on this second issue, and discuss the critical importance of investigations of potential uses of information technology.    Computer scientists have always undertaken “use-inspired research,” but the uses that have been deemed legitimate have often been limited to those that are within the computational box.  Thus, designing more reliable operating systems or developing faster methods for database access have been seen as mainstream CS, while research motivated by other needs may be viewed as “merely an application.”   In contrast, information scientists have focused on the socio-technical dimensions of IT, with a particularly heavy emphasis on social issues.  Increasingly, though, there are calls to change the perspectives of both groups, in ways that blur the distinctions between them and that recognize the value of combining rigorous technical insights with deep social analyses.  I will point out the challenges inherent in such a change in perspective, while arguing that it is nonetheless essential if our field is to maintain its relevance.   To ground the discussion, I will draw on examples of research that aims to develop computational systems that improve the greater good, for instance by assisting people with cognitive or physical impairments, by facilitating sustainable practices, or by increasing social capital.

Biography: Martha E. Pollack is Dean and Professor at the School of Information, University of Michigan, where she is also Professor of Computer Science and Engineering.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from Dartmouth College, and M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer and Information Science, from the University of Pennsylvania.  Prior to coming to Michigan in 2000, she was Professor of Computer Science and of Intelligent Systems at the University of Pittsburgh, and before that a researcher at Artificial Intelligence Center, SRI International.  An elected Fellow and the President-Elect of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), Pollack has published widely on foundational issues in AI, including adaptive interfaces, temporal reasoning, automated plan generation, and natural-language processing, as well as on the design of technology for people with cognitive impairment, a topic about which she testified before the United State Senate Subcommittee on Aging.  She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Computing Research Association and of Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation’s CISE Directorate, and she previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research. Amongst her professional awards, she received the Influential Paper Award (sometimes called the “Test of Time Prize”) in 2008 from the Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems Foundation, for work she did jointly with Michael Bratman and David Israel in the 1980s on computational models of rationality.

Colloquium Provided By:

the School of Informatics