Me, Myself, & AI: How I learned to love the machine that took my job
An overview of my master’s thesis: a year’s worth of research, interviews, ideation, and prototyping for an AI-empowered future of work and leisure.
This work was developed in 2017–2018.
- AI/ML
- user research
- visual design
- writing
- speculative design
The work and writing below was developed in 2017–2018 for my master’s thesis at Products of Design, SVA.
As artificial intelligence’s capabilities continue to expand, there’s a growing anxiety that the impending AI Revolution may automate more jobs than it creates — triggering a crisis of worker displacement to rival the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. In response, I developed Me, Myself and A.I.: How I Learned to Love the Machine That Took my Job, a thesis of speculative designs that imagine near and distant futures where AI is used to increase individual agency — not diminish it.
Developed in my second and final year at SVA’s Products of Design MFA program, these proposals and provocations address access to work and other ways to protect human dignity in an automated age. Because while the Hollywood definition of AI may still be light-years away, AI is already taking over the world.
Watch me present thesis highlights at the SVA Theater (2018)
The full fruits of a year’s worth of research, sketching, ideation, prototyping, and design are showcased in my thesis book, available for download here — all 194 pages of it. Below are snapshots of a few key projects, plus links to more detailed pages for each project’s origin, development process, and final form.
The Human Resourcing Dept: Inside the staffing agency of the future
It’s 2088, and your old job has been automated. But an AI named PETAR is here to sort you into a future job based on the human attributes we still need: critical thinking, creative thinking, and emotional intuition. This immersive performance tested people’s reactions to a sudden loss of agency.
- writing
- speculative design
- visual design
- experiential design
- service design
- AI/ML
Jade: Wearable autonomy that preserves elderly independence
When Jade notices that its wearer makes a worrisome deviation from their routine, it rings and vibrates. If they don’t squeeze it to show they’re okay, it calls for help.
- speculative design
- industrial design
- service design
- UI
- UX
- AI/ML
Classmates: An AI assistant for career-changers
Classmates is a chatbot that guides career transitioners to their next role based on their preferences and personality, points them to learning resources, and connects them to their newfound peers.
- speculative design
- user research
- UI
- UX
- service design
- AI/ML
Staygo: On-the-road learning for truckers in the semi-autonomous era
StayGo is a service that transforms semi-autonomous truck cabs into mobile offices, allowing truckers to begin their transition to a job in the AI economy while their truck drives itself.
- speculative design
- service design
- AI/ML
Water Token: cap-and-trade water governance as basic income
California is a notoriously problematic and overextended watershed. The Water Token Project is a speculative policy proposal that uses NOAA data to algorithmically price and allocate water every month using “water tokens,” tradable by corporations and citizens alike.
- speculative design
- service design
- policy design
- AI/ML
While my thesis may be complete, the issues it addressed and the egalitarian agenda I established are still close to my heart. If you were intrigued by my work, I’d love to chat! Contact me at willacrum@gmail.com.