Creative Language Technologies

This is episode #12 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 24th of February, 2022.

My guest today is Dr. Jay Friedenberg, Professor of Psychology at Manhattan College where he founded and directs the Cognitive Science Program, and where he had served as Department Chairperson for over a decade. Dr. Friedenberg is a vision researcher and has published articles on symmetry detection, center of mass estimation and empirical aesthetics. In addition, he has written a number of science books. These include undergraduate texts in cognitive science, artificial intelligence and non-linear dynamics. He is also an artist focusing on pastel landscapes and urban sketching and is serving his third year as President of the Haiku Society of America.

We started the discussion with his book on "Understanding Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts: An Interdisciplinary Approach”, addressing the challenges in defining beauty, art, and creativity. After considering whether beauty is sensory in nature or more intellectual, we debated if beauty and art can be studied scientifically, and addressed the role of intuition in art creation.

The second part of the discussion moved toward technology. Since AI has found its way into the world of art for quite some time now, we looked at how it has already influenced the art industry. Is AI going to replace artists or is there always going to be some human intervention required to create art? And, if so, is the art ecosystem going to equally welcome both kinds of art creation?

Looking in the future, Jay shared his opinion on the role of AI in the art space in the next 10-20 years, debating who should own the copyright and the ethical implications of AI in creating art. Here is the show.

Show Notes:

Defining beauty, art, and creativity
- Is beauty sensory/emotional in nature or more intellectual? What is the role of intuition in art creation?
- Can beauty and art be studied scientifically?
- AI and the art industry
- The role of AI in the art space in the next 10-20 years
- Should AI own the copyright?
- Ethical implications of AI in art creation

Note:
Links o Jay Friedenberg's books on Amazon:
1) Jay Friedenberg. The Future of the Self: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Personhood and Identity in the Digital Age. 1st Edition. University of California Press. 2020. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KCW7319/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i4
2) Jay Friedenberg. Understanding Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts: An Interdisciplinary Approach. 2020.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G1SG16R/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2
Jay's art:
bigapplearts.com

This is episode #22 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 28th of July, 2022.

My guest today is Dr. Carlos Velasco, associate professor in the Department of Marketing, BI Norwegian Business School (Norway), and the co-founded of the Centre for Multisensory Marketing. Carlos received his D.Phil. in Experimental Psychology from Oxford University, after which he worked in a number of postdoctoral and consulting projects in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. His work is situated at the intersection of Psychology, Marketing, and Human–Computer Interaction, and focuses on understanding, and capitalizing on our multisensory experiences and their guiding principles. He wrote the book "Multisensory experiences: Where the senses meet technology" (2020, Oxford University Press). Carlos has worked with a number of companies from around the world on topics such as multisensory experiences, food and drink, branding, and consumer research.
We started the interview with the broad topic of digital sensory-enabling technologies — and elaborated on the belief that, in the future, digital environments will most likely engage more of the senses and become more interconnected with the real world. But this a very challenging problem, and this most likely will involve a wide range of collaborative efforts across many disciplines.

We then moved to the reality-virtuality continuum - a framework for classifying the wide range of immersive technologies available today — and discussed the main factors that drive the degree of immersion and presence in digital spaces.

The second part of the interview covered technology where we focused in particular on how to improve eating experiences in rather specific places, like space. Of course, besides a short debate on the impact technology will have on society in the next 10-20 years, we concluded the show with a dialogue on the ethical implications of such technologies.

Here is the show.
Show Notes:

Digital sensory-enabling technologies
- Are we satisfied with the current immersive digital sensory experiences?
- A wide inter-disciplinary approach to the integration of the different senses that need to be stimulated during digital consumer experiences? And challenges for researchers working at the intersection of these areas
- The reality-virtuality continuum model offers a framework for classifying the wide range of immersive technologies available today
- Individual differences in perception in sensory marketing
- The role does language play in transducing between/ among the various senses
- Eating experiences in space
- The role of technology in the next 10-20 years in reviving the ‘felt consumer experience’
- Ethical implications of digital sensory-enabling technologies

Relevant book:
Velasco, Carlos, and Marianna Obrist. Multisensory experiences: Where the senses meet technology. Oxford University Press, 2020.
Link to Dr. Velasco’s website:

https://carlosvelasco.info/

This is episode #20 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 23rd of June, 2022.

Today I sat down, virtually, of course, with Dr. Michael Mopas, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. He is cross-appointed to the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the Department of Law and Legal Studies, and serves as a member of the Duncombe Studio for Social and Cultural Research. Most of Michael’s work is in the area of science, technology, and law with a focus on 'sound'. In his spare time, he plays upright bass in several jazz bands in the city and participates in long-distance triathlons. He has completed two Ironman races (Lake Placid and Mont-Tremblant) and several other events.

In our discussion, we turned to wearable fitness-trackers and mobile apps that allow athletes to measure, monitor, visualize, and record a variety of training metrics. Dr. Mopas and his collaborators have looked into the deeply embodied and sensory dimensions of self-tracking. The overall insight seems to be that the data generated by self-trackers are not only cognitively processed, but also sensed and felt by users. While we do have some understanding of what exactly self-tracking devices measure and quantify, we know less about how/when do their users know these quantitative metrics work for them. How do we mitigate the potential dissonance between these quantitative metrics and the athletes’ lived experiences?

The second part of the discussion moved toward technology. We talked about the future of wearable self-tracking devices and debated if AI can be employed to better understand the emotional needs of the user. Here is the show.

Show Notes:

Do wearable tracking devices take too much of our ability of ‘being in the moment’?
- Should we value quantitative metrics over other ways of knowing and making sense?
- Moments of dissonance: self-tracking device’s quantitative metrics vs. the athletes’ lived experience
- Sharing data (e.g., Strava): potential benefits and limitations
- Technology: Can we develop AI that learns qualitative data that people input into such devices?

Note:

Relevant papers:

Mopas, Michael S., and Ekaterina Huybregts. "Training by feel: wearable fitness-trackers, endurance athletes, and the sensing of data." The Senses and Society 15.1 (2020): 25-40.

Lupton, Deborah, and Sarah Maslen. "The more-than-human sensorium: sensory engagements with digital self-tracking technologies." The Senses and Society 13.2 (2018): 190-202.

Link to Dr. Mopas’ web page:

https://carleton.ca/socanth/people/mopas-michael/

This is episode #19 of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 9th of June, 2022.

I interviewed Dr. Elaine Auyoung, Donald V. Hawkins Professor and Associate Professor of English at the University of Minnesota, and Affiliate Faculty of the Center for Cognitive Sciences. She is the author of “When Fiction Feels Real: Representation and the Reading Mind”, recently released in paperback from Oxford University Press. In addition to the project on “Unselfing” described on her faculty webpage, Elaine is also working on a book project on “Becoming Sensitive”, which uses cognitive research on expertise and perceptual learning to show how training in the arts and humanities prepares learners to notice and respond to information in ways that are important for future problem solving but have been difficult to assess.

We had a fascinating discussion on many important topics covered in Elaine’s book, but the episode went over the usual podcast duration, so I’ve decided to split it into two parts. This is Part II.

We continued our discussion from Part I on how to bridge the gap between readers’ experience and the experience of firsthand perception — i.e., how well can we know what we don’t experience directly? We then moved to the vocabulary of 'bereavement' addressing the question ‘What happens when novels end?” As always, we concluded with a discussion on technology covering e-books, multimedia experiences, and VR. Elaine was also happy to introduce us to her current project on ‘Becoming Sensitive’ where she debates the importance of the Arts and Humanities in preparing learners to make and represent information in ways that are important for future problem solving.

Here is the show.

Show Notes:

how well can we know what we don’t experience directly? (and limitations of language)
- leaving room between imagination and experience
- the vocabulary of 'bereavement': What happens when novels end?
- the future of digital books and the future of experiencing fiction in VR: 1st person vs. 3rd person immersion
- the role of language in immersive environments
- Elaine’s current project, ‘Becoming Sensitive’
- perceptual learning: the ability to differentiate one’s experience (preparing us for noticing or for being sensitive)

Dr. Auyoung’s faculty webpage:
https://cla.umn.edu/about/directory/profile/eauyoung

Link to paperback edition of Dr. Auyoung book:
https://www.amazon.com/When-Fiction-Feels-Real-Representation/dp/0197621279/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MMDE5NRJ6GV4&keywords=when+fiction+feels+real&qid=1650048589&sprefix=when+fiction+feels+real%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-1

This is episode #17th of the podcast and it’s Thursday, the 12th of May, 2022.

I sat down with Dr. Sally Warmington, a retired medical doctor and narrative researcher from Melbourne, Australia with a deep interest in the encounter between health professionals and those seeking care. Her experiences as a doctor, student, teacher and patient inform her research at the intersection of anthropology, cultural theory and linguistics. Her book "Storytelling encounters as medical education: crafting relational identity" demonstrates the key role of storytelling in medical education and practice and its potential to promote collaborative, better quality care.

We had a fascinating discussion on many important topics covered in Sally’s book, but the episode went over the usual podcast duration, so I’ve decided to split it into two parts. This is Part II.

We continued our discussion from Part I on ethics in clinical practice, focusing on the concept of ‘ethical mindfulness’ — how to bring in and apply ethical values in research. We then moved to the importance of medical students’ reflective writing, process which allows students to become more aware of the emotional and relational aspects of the clinical encounter. And, in this context, we explored various options to the questions “Do patients’ stories matter? And, are doctors aware of their importance?” Dr. Warmington argues for a universal adoption of practices that promote dialogic engagement between medical students, clinical teachers, and patients, giving us lots of examples from her own research and clinical experience.

Here is the show.
Show Notes:

ethical mindfulness in research and clinical practice

reflective writing in medical teaching practice

how should we approach medical care?

toward a universal adoption for practices that promote dialogic engagement between students, clinical teachers, and patients.

Can empathy be taught? (The need to look for another way of framing the issues around the clinical encounter)

detached concern vs. engagement practice in medical encounters

Note:

Link to Dr. Warmington’s book:

"Storytelling encounters as medical education: crafting relational identity" is available on the Routledge website:

https://www.routledge.com/Storytelling-Encounters-as-Medical-Education-Crafting-Relational-Identity/Warmington/p/book/9781032177007#

Her research papers can be found on Google Scholar.