Whose SharedPlans? Scripts, Collaboration, and Feminist AI Research
Rachel Bergmann
Social Media Collective, Microsoft Research New England
EASST / 4S 2020
Critical histories of computing
Credit: flashbak.com
Sidner, Candace. “On Being a Woman at MIT: Or, How to Miss the Stumbling Blocks in Graduate Education.” Association for Women in Mathematics Newsletter 12, no. 1 (February 1982): 13–17.
Sidner, Candace. “On Being a Woman at MIT: Or, How to Miss the Stumbling Blocks in Graduate Education.” Association for Women in Mathematics Newsletter 12, no. 1 (February 1982): 13–17.
Schank & Abelson (1977):
Scripts, goals and understanding
1. John went into the restaurant.
2. He ordered a hamburger and a coke.
3. He asked the waitress for the check and left.
Schank and Abelson's Scripts
Did John eat the hamburger?
Schank and Abelson's Scripts
Schank & Abelson's SAM Program
Schank and Abelson's Scripts
Searle's "Chinese Room Argument"
SharedPlans
SharedPlans
SharedPlans
NLP for conversations, not just Q & A pairs
Incorporated different knowledge and beliefs of users
Assumes user will go
"off-script"
Resonances in STS
Epistemological limitations
Tech worker movements
In conclusion
These women worked to make computer science departments more open and welcoming spaces.
Reflecting on historical precedents can help us imagine paths for building technologies in new and more equitable directions.
Their feminist AI protocol included research methods, values, and practices rooted in community, interdisciplinarity, and care.
Thank you!
Rachel Bergmann
@rachbgm
Social Media Collective, Microsoft Research
EASST / 4S 2020
4S 2020
By Rachel Bergmann
4S 2020
Rachel Bergmann presentation at 4S 2020.
