Alan Blackwell

designing alternatives to AI

Who am I ?

Professor of Interdisciplinary Design at the University of Cambridge

I study how to make meaningful technology through creative practice, critical engagement, and new kinds of representation.

I am co-Director of Cambridge Global Challenges, and a Fellow of Darwin College.

Enquiries

Applying to work with me

I welcome enquiries. Please start by reading my advice on how to explain your specific research interests

Publications

For an overview of recent research browse my publications

Contact

  • Location : Computer Laboratory
  • Email : afb21@cam.ac.uk
  • Phone : +44 1223 334418
  • Address : William Gates Building, Cambridge CB3 0FD.
  • Old homes : 2022 | 2011

My Research

Screenshot of Multiverse Explorer
REPRESENTATION

The Multiverse Explorer domain-specific probabilistic programming language

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Digital Twin visualisation of lecture theatre
REPRESENTATION

Justas's rendering of atmospheric sensing in a virtual Digital Twin

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Screenshot of Multiverse Explorer
REPRESENTATION

Torino: A tangible programming language inclusive of children with visual disabilities

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A fragment of my bookshelf
DESIGN

Critical writing on technology and design

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Cover of the book Live Coding: A User's Manual
ARTS

MIT Press book Live Coding: a user's manual

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A dancer in front of a computer workstation
ARTS

Development of a Choreographic Language Agent for sketching with Random Dance Company

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Fragment of visualisation showing interconnections
DESIGN

Proposal for HCI as an Interdiscipline drawing on analysis of Crucible projects

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Three interactive cubers
REPRESENTATION

The AutoHAN Media Cubes tangible IoT programming language

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Person holding tangible interface
REPRESENTATION

The Webkit interface for rhetorical structure

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Tangible interaction prototypes
REPRESENTATION

Prototyping tangible user interfaces as solid diagrams

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Tangible user interface
REPRESENTATION

Darren Edge's research on peripheral tangible interaction

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Fragment of visualisation showing blue polygons
REPRESENTATION

Ana Semrov's interactive visualisation of latent semantic spaces

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Crucible network logo
DESIGN

The Crucible network for research in interdisciplinary design

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The letters A and I as a stylised layer over the Namibian desert
DESIGN

What would AI would look like if it was invented in Africa?

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User interface of Palimpsest
ARTS

The Palimpsest system for live algorithmic image manipulation

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Algorave performance
ARTS

Alan and Sam live-coding Minecraft as The Humming Wires at an algorave in Leeds

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Children using augmented finger puppets
REPRESENTATION

Zhen Bai's FingAR system for pretend play in augmented reality

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Bruce Gernand's Chimeric Menagerie
ARTS

Exhibition and book by Bruce Gernand - the Coded Chimera.

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Across Design logo
DESIGN

Comparative investigation of practices Across Design

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Mariana Marasoiu's Cuscus system
REPRESENTATION

Mariana Marasoiu's Cuscus end user programming tool for data visualisation

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Cluster visualisation with user interface
REPRESENTATION

The ICUMAP visualisation of 10,000 patient records

Sonic Pi logo
ARTS

Sam Aaron's Sonic Pi music programming system

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Moral Codes

MIT Press 2024

My Teaching

Human-Centred AI

Practical Methods

P342 - course page (part II)

Practical Research in Human-centred AI is co-taught with Advait Sarkar (Microsoft Research Cambridge). Students design an original experiment, leading to a report suitable for publication.


Sociotechnical Theory

R225 - course page

Theories of Socio-digital Design for Human Centred AI is co-taught with Tomasz Hollanek (Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence). This interdisciplinary reading group meets together with MPhil students in Data Ethics and Society, and in Digital Humanities

Human-Computer Interaction

Further HCI

Part 1B - course page

Co-taught with Luke Church. This course provides an introduction to the principles of designing alternatives to AI, including modes of representation, intelligent interfaces, user experience and critical perspectives.

Computer Music

Part 2/3 - course page

Co-taught with Mark Gotham. This course will not be offered in 2023/24

Group Design Project

For students

Part 1B - course page

This design course, at the centre of the computer science degree, involves working for a term to create an advanced prototype, working with an external client. Co-taught with Rob Harle.

For clients

Development - Wiki

Please contact me if you'd like to work with a student teams as client/mentor for their design project.

My Studio

Sofija Stefanovic
Sofija Stefanovic

PhD student

Sofija is a student with the AI for Environmental Risk CDT, investigating sensing infrastructure and citizen action.

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Justas Brazauskas
Justas Brazauskas

PhD student

Justas is investigating critical design of digital twin infrastructure, co-supervised by Ian Lewis and Per Ola Kristensson, and funded by the Sensors Centre for Doctoral Training.

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Studio X team, November 2022
Studio X

2022/23 research team

Research team meeting in November 2022: David, Bianca, Anna, Alexander, Sofija, Pamela, Alan, Malak, Oumaima, Joycelyn, Diana, Emma.

Described by David as "Studio X", although he might want to reconsider that proposal following Musk's rebranding of Twitter the following year.

Photo of Bianca Schor. Image credit: D'agency pour Diversidays
Bianca Schor

PhD student

Coming from a background in art history, Bianca is investigating the fundamentals of meaningful transparency, co-supervised by Jat Singh.

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Joycelyn Longdon
Joycelyn Longdon

PhD student

Funded by the Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Environmental Risk, Joycelyn is working with a community in Ghana on conservation eco-acoustics. Co-supervised by Jennifer Gabrys (Sociology), Adham Ashton-Butt (Britist Trust for Ornithology) and Emmanuel Acheampong (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology).

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Diana Robinson
Diana Robinson

PhD student

Diana is exploring end-user domain specific probabilistic programming languages for clinical decision support, funded by Microsoft Research Cambridge. This work is co-supervised by Alain Vuylsteke, Kenton O'Hara, Neil Lawrence and Luke Church.

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Mariana Marasoiu
Mariana Marasoiu

Affiliated Lecturer

Mariana has completed an investigation of end-user tools for data visualisation, and works on data science applications and the design of novel programming tools. Her PhD was funded by BT, and co-supervised by Martin Spott and Detlef Nauck

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Luke Church
Luke Church

Affiliated Lecturer

Luke's designs systems of computers and people for integrating intelligence. He is the founder of Lark Systems, lead technologist at Africa’s Voices Foundation, and assists a number of other organisations with socio-technical design needs.

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