The Challenges of Designing AI Systems

Variability of AI Systems

It is challenging to design an AI-infused system as there are a plethora of modalities, from voice
user interfaces like Siri to AR/VR technology. We also see AI implemented in traditional GUIs,
like the autocomplete feature when texting on a smartphone. This begs the question: what is the
best way to design for AI? It seems like there are no one-size-fits all guidelines. Paul Allen
states that “more study and innovation are needed inlight of advances in Ai and the growing
uses of Ai technologies in human-facing applications” (2019).

An Illustration of the Challenges of Designing AI

I remember in a User Interface development course that I took with Dario Salvucci, he asked
“how would you organize the items in the right-click menu?”

One student suggested implementing an “intelligent menu” where the most frequent commands
would be displayed near the top of the menu. This seems like a reasonable idea. There is one
problem, however. The order of the menu items would be different every time. Imagine having to
scan down the list of menu items every time you open the menu. This violates the design
principle to maintain consistency. In this case, an “intelligent” menu would actually worsen the
user experience, which shows just how challenging it is to design AI systems.
AI and Our Daily Lives

In addition to dealing with multiple modalities, another challenge is figuring out how AI should
integrate with our daily lives. James Auger asks this question in the context of robots: what is
the proper way to interact with robots and is there a place for them in our homes? According to
him, stereotypical perceptions of robots—machines designed to perform repetitive tasks and to
save on labor costs—limits the design possibilities. He proposes speculative design as a way of
moving beyond these stereotypes and creative limitations.

Minimizing Errors when Interacting With AI Systems

Many researchers have come up with heuristics to help deal with these challenges in designing
AI-infused systems. One might think that AI undermines all the traditional rules of traditional
user interface design. On the contrary, AI design moves the field of HCI forward while still being
grounded in traditional UI design principles. (Verganti et al).

For example, one of Allen’s heuristics is “to set clear expectations to the user of what the AI
system can and cannot do,” which is an echo of Don Norman’s first heuristic: “the design should
always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within a
reasonable amount of time.” As far as I can tell, these two ideas are the same.

To illustrate this principle, we can look at voice interfaces like Amazon’s Echo. Upon first glance,
it is not so obvious what voice commands are possible, especially for a first-time user. Although
a bit contrived, a voice user interface like Garmin’s GPS makes it clear what commands are
possible through a visual display.
Dealing with Uncertainty

Another way of minimizing mistakes is to account for uncertainty when determining a user’s
goal. In Horvitz’s paper, he talks about the LookOut system, a probabilistic model that calculates
the likelihood that a user would like to view a calendar or schedule an appointment. This
example highlights his belief that the right proportion of direct manipulation coupled with
automated services will enhance the user experience.