Engineering Interactive Systems in the Age of Uncertainty

The rapidly growing use of intelligent technologies in the development of interactive systems can create new useful functionality for users but also increases uncertainty in their use. While conventional interactive systems create uncertainty for users mainly through inadequately engineered functionality and user interfaces, intelligent systems inherently introduce uncertainty by applying probabilistic methods which mostly operate in opaque black box models. Uncertainty can significantly lower user experience and trust in the system and may create harmful effects at an individual or societal level. In this talk, we will discuss sources of uncertainty and questions of coping with it from a user-centric perspective. Taking the example of recommender systems, principles for bridging the gulf of uncertainty in user-system interaction will be proposed. Specifically, the talk will address approaches for fostering user understanding of the decision space, for enabling user control and exploration, and for progressing from explaining AI functions to a co-evolution of human and intelligent system.