AI Equal Rights Equality: When the technology temperature reaches every "minority" - Inclusive Design Practice of Artificial Intelligence

Different needs of users in the era of artificial intelligence

When we celebrate the convenience brought by AI, do we take into account more diverse people? From a user experience perspective, it is crucial to understand and embrace the needs of the elderly, people with disabilities, and minorities.

The elderly may face challenges in using technology, such as reduced vision, reduced hand flexibility, or a sense of strangeness to emerging technologies.

For people with disabilities, AI brings both opportunities and challenges. AI has the potential to enhance existing accessibility features, such as improving screen readers and voice control functions; AI-powered speech recognition systems can understand various voice patterns, including voice for people with speech impairments; and can also automatically perform time-consuming tasks such as creating video subtitles to facilitate hearing-impaired users.

However, new obstacles may arise if the design and training data of the AI ​​system do not fully consider the needs of people with disabilities. If the AI ​​model is trained on a non-representative dataset, it may not be possible to accurately identify or respond to disabled users with atypical features such as different speech patterns or body movements.

Minorities may also face bias issues in AI systems. Research shows that AI systems may reflect and amplify social bias in training data, leading to discriminatory results for specific races, genders, or cultural groups.

Inclusive Artificial Intelligence Design Practice

IKEA's Krea tiv application uses AI to scan space, virtually remove existing furniture, and recommend new interior design solutions in an interactive, realistic and easy-to-access way, which makes it easy for more users to design homes.

Dolinguo's video call function uses AI to personalize courses and exercises according to each user's learning style, adjusting the rhythm and content to meet the needs of different learners.

"Video Call" function has several characteristics: the difficulty is tailored to the user's language level; the feedback on the event is given (the grammar will not be deliberately corrected, the score will not be forced to say it again, but the communication will be focused on the communication itself, and it will only ask the user if he understands her or feedback if she understands the user).

Microsoft is also actively integrating inclusive design into its products. For example, Seeing AI applications use computer vision technology to describe the world around them for visually impaired users, including reading text, identifying scenes and characters.

Microsoft has also developed features such as Voice Control, allowing users to control their devices through voice, which is crucial for users with movement disorders. In addition, Microsoft also provides a range of inclusive design tools and resources, including mental health guidelines and cognitive impairment design case studies, to help developers create more inclusive products.

Apple has always attached great importance to product accessibility. Its Voice Control application enhances the user experience by AI-enhanced, enabling more accurate understanding and transcribing of speech and supporting more complex tasks.

Apple has also launched innovative features such as Music Haptics, allowing users with hearing impairment to experience music through touch.

Amazon has also added a number of AI-powered accessibility features to its products. For example, the Alexa voice assistant can help users complete shopping, play entertainment content, and control smart home devices through voice interaction.

Fire TV supports audio streaming to hearing aids (ASHA) protocol and introduces the Dual Audio feature that allows hearing-impaired users to watch TV shows with their family and friends.

Kindle devices provide a variety of fonts, sizes, and layout options, as well as text-to-speech functions to improve the reading experience. (WeChat Reading is the same)

These cases show that large tech companies are gradually recognizing the importance of inclusive AI and actively developing relevant features and products to meet the needs of different user groups, especially those with disabilities. These companies often have more resources to integrate accessibility into their vast product ecosystem and develop dedicated accessibility tools.

In addition to large technology companies, some startups also regard inclusive design as the core concept of their artificial intelligence product innovation. These companies are often more agile, focusing on solving specific accessibility challenges and providing users with highly customized solutions.

UserWay is a startup that provides AI-powered accessibility widgets. The widget can be seamlessly integrated into the website, providing users with features such as text resizing, color contrast resizing, and screen reader compatibility, allowing users to customize their browsing experiences according to their specific needs.

Appinventiv has partnered with Mudra, a fintech company, to develop a chatbot-based budget management application designed to provide millennials with a more attractive and accessible way to manage their personal finance. Make financial tools easier to use and understand through AI.

Key principles and methods for designing "AI equal rights"

1. User-centered

Put user requirements at the heart of the design process. This means a deep understanding of the needs and pain points of different user groups, especially those that may be marginalized, and actively communicating and cooperating with them throughout the product development process.

2. Consider accessibility from the beginning

The design should take accessibility into consideration from the beginning, not as an afterthought. This means following accessibility standards and guidelines such as WCAG and ensuring that the interface and content of the AI ​​system are perceivable, actionable, understandable, and robust to all users.

3. Avoid AI bias

Special attention should be paid to the bias issues in AI systems. This includes training using representative datasets, implementing rigorous verification processes to identify and challenge biases, and incorporating a diverse perspective into the design process. At the same time, we must strive to improve the transparency and interpretability of AI systems so that users can understand how AI works and the decision-making processes.

4. Participatory design

Let users directly participate in the development process of AI products. User feedback and opinions are crucial to ensure that the product truly meets their needs. AI’s fast data processing capabilities can help designers effectively integrate a large amount of user feedback.

5. Flexibility&Adaptive

Design can adapt to the preferences and abilities of different users. For example, multiple input and output methods (such as voice, text, haptics) are provided, as well as allowing users to customize interfaces and interactions.

6. AI Ethics

Ethical factors and responsible AI development must be taken into account when designing AI products. This includes protecting user data privacy, ensuring transparency of algorithms, and addressing potential discrimination or inequity issues.

Implementing "AI equal rights" is not achieved overnight, but through a process of continuous learning and adaptation. This requires us to always adhere to the human-centered design concept, deeply understand human needs, and guide the development and application of artificial intelligence with a strong sense of ethical responsibility.

Only in this way can we truly realize the potential of artificial intelligence, create a more fair and inclusive future, and allow technological progress to benefit all members of society. By embracing the human-centric design philosophy, AI’s potential to create a more equitable and accessible future for everyone can be realized, ensuring technological advancements benefit all members of society.