BBL Speaker Series: Brian Smith: Computers as Partners in Human Experience

Talk Title: Computers as Partners in Human Experience

Speaker: Brian Smith, Associate Professor, Computer Science, Columbia University.

Location: IRB 4105 and Zoom

Abstract: Much of computing’s progress has come from learning how to help with new kinds of problems. Computers can now help us draft essays, navigate unfamiliar places, and stay connected with friends and family. But our deeper goals often require more: becoming confident writers, truly knowing a place, or feeling closer to other people. We still lack a framework for making these deeper forms of help computational.

In this talk, I will introduce computing for experience, a new approach inspired by accessibility and psychology. Rather than focusing on tasks or outcomes alone, it asks what meaningful experiences people lack access to and how computing can help make those experiences possible. I will present two examples of this approach in action, from making digital media and games accessible to blind players to designing tools that foster more genuine human connection. Together, they suggest new roles for computers: not as replacements for human ability, but as partners in helping us realize the experiences we want to have.

Bio:  Brian A. Smith is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University and the director of the Computer-Enabled Abilities Laboratory (CEAL). His research goal is to develop computers that act as true partners in human ability, augmenting rather than replacing it. Instead of developing more intelligent systems alone, he focuses on the experiences they create and how to make them more meaningful. He has been recognized as a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow and is the recipient of several honors including the NSF CAREER Award, Columbia Engineering’s Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award, and awards for advancing undergraduate engineering programs.