Bodystorming Artificial Intelligence in Civic Tech

Date and Time: Monday, August 19, 4:00–5:30pm Pacific Time

Location: East Wing Hall, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center (on-site only)

⭐ Pre-registration is required for this session! The session is free but capacity is limited. Sign up in Los Angeles when you pick up your badge at the information desk on Sunday or Monday morning.

Created and facilitated by:

Jane Park Storm, Senior Principal Design Researcher, Coforma
Daniela Jones, Senior Design Researcher, Coforma

Ethnography allows us to step into the shoes of others, recognizing patterns and predicting human behavior. But what about non-humans– especially unpredictable technologies like generative AI? Using a method known as bodystorming, we will employ an improv-inspired approach to play, empathize with, and embody AI. Where humans are able to say no, AI hallucinates. However, by incorporating improv’s “yes, and,” principle, we will physically embody AI in a way that garners likeness and empathy with AI models, allowing us to not only demonstrate the risks and possibilities of AI, but to generate a new framework for examining other possible futures

Jane Park Storm is a design and research leader that builds consensus and drives results. She has 16 years of experience in the nonprofit and government sectors, designing and executing socially innovative programs and products committed to realizing the full potential of digital technologies for positive global and civic impact. She has a B.A. in Philosophy and Minor in Creative Writing from U.C. Berkeley, and is the former Director of Product and Research at Creative Commons.

Daniela Jones is a researcher and behavioral designer with eight years of experience in strategic design, ranging from business development and client management at design consultancy Designit to leading the development of the research practice at a multinational corporation as the company’s first UX researcher. She has an M.S. in Behavioral and Decision Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia.