AI: Ethical questions, human interfaces and technology, and the future.

As designers, technologist, and business leaders, the promise of artificial intelligence offers us a world of opportunities. At this meet-up our diverse panel of thought leaders will discuss the ethics, human interfaces, technology, and the future of AI. Come enjoy a night of food, drink and networking. – An interpreter for the hearing impaired will be present.

Speakers include:

Litha Ramirez – Experience Strategy & Design, Executive Director
Recognized in 2015 as Chicago's Best Tech Manager with a Timmy Award. Litha is a customer-focused product and UX leader, with a strong track record of building high-performing teams that drive business outcomes through innovative, effective, and sustainable digital product solutions.

Pat Ryan – Executive Vice President, Delivery Management at SPR.
Proven technology leader and practitioner with expertise in enterprise class web applications and high-volume transaction processing systems. My passion is being able to consume business requirements and create software architectures to meet the business needs along with direct involvement with the successful development and implementation.

Michael Vogt – Data, Analytics, and Machine Learning, Executive Director
Passionate about analytical solutions that allow our clients to create and leverage insights for competitive advantage. Building a data-driven culture by utilizing modern technologies such as cloud, serverless compute, event-driven architecture, AI, machine-learning and predictive analytics, Mike has helped numerous clients progress from a reactive to a predictive business stance.

Ovetta Sampson – Design Lead at IDEO.
As a design research lead at IDEO, Ovetta uses a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to inspire innovation in various industries including IoT, transportation, service, insurance and health care. Combining her M.S. in Computer Science (HCI) with her BA in Communications, Ovetta spends most of her time helping people visualize humanity’s future and how to ethically and with compassion serve people through digital and intelligent products.

Jason Lung – Director of Innovation & Design at Vokal.
Jason is an idea person above all. He is a well-rounded Innovation & Design Director pushing at the edges of the emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual realities. Jason unearths and cultivates new and creative ideas anywhere he focuses his mind.

Leslie McFarlin – Senior UX Architect/AI Researcher at CA Technologies.
Leslie is the UX Research Lead for Mainframe Security and also AIUX at CA Technologies. Leslie has developed a UX strategy for AI-infused products that focuses on empowering users and building trust; created research processes for studying human-data interaction and attitudes toward the adoption and acceptance of AI; and written several articles on AI-related UX and user psychology issues.

Andrew Paley – Computer science PHD – Northwestern University.
Andrew is an experienced product leader and designer with a background in natural language generation technologies. After 7 years at Chicago startup Narrative Science, where he built and led the design team, he is currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science at Northwestern University with a focus on the future of AI and UX.

Soren Spicknall – Data Scientist at AskWhai
A data scientist and civic technologist focused on responsibly applying emerging technologies to problems of societal importance. Previously a member of the Microsoft Cities Team, he is now part of the founding team of AskWhai, an AI firm that translates new data science research into transparent, ethical real-world applications of AI.