Otherware: Interacting with Autonomous Systems

The new, emerging class of AI-infused interactive systems needs a fundamental rethinking of how to interact with them. The traditional model of interactive systems as passive tools supporting human action no longer holds. They become a counterpart when interacting with them. However, they are not human either (nor animal), and the anthropomorphism that interaction designers resort to for lack of options when creating modern AI-infused systems is misguided. We call this new class of systems otherware, and we believe that finding appropriate interaction metaphors for this new class of software and hardware systems is at the core of shaping how we will interact with technology in the near future, and whether this will be a future we'll enjoy living in.

News

• We are coorganizing the first Otherware workshop at NordiCHI 2020. The submission deadline is September 1, 2020. NordiCHI takes place from Oct 25–29, 2020 in Tallinn. (Jun 3, 2020)
• Prof. Jan Borchers: Human-AI Interaction. Invited Speaker, Inauguration of Prof. Kay Schröder, Heerlen (Feb 14, 2020).Slides (PDF)
• Prof. Jan Borchers: Communicating with AI, keynote at IEEE ProComm 2019 (Jul 25, 2019).Slides (PDF)