If you’re new to AI and tired of the tech jargon, this one's for you. When I first joined the AI on IBM Z design team about 4 years ago, I was –as they say, drinking from the fire hose. I don’t have a computer science degree, don’t have a tech background, was unfamiliar with IBM Z mainframes and didn’t know much about AI. What I did know was visual design, user research, and storytelling complex concepts in simple ways. As a visual learner, I could latch onto different AI terminologies by creating pictures in my head. This made it easy for me to teach family members or friends what I learned and instilled a passion for storytelling AI education through illustrations or animations. This skill has served me well in my UX research job too!
The ABCs of AI illustration below aims to lower the barrier to entry, making AI literacy more accessible for all ages. The nature of human behavior is that people fear the unknown and this is true for tech innovations, especially AI. However, if we can demystify it, learn about it and have a well-informed public, hopefully we can have more honest conversations about the different types of AI and the future(s) it brings.
It’s important for me to emphasize that no AI whatsoever was used for this illustration. I made it with my own hands & imagination via the Procreate app on my iPad. Please do not feed this into any AI training database, but you can share this with a human!
The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.
Thalia Barry
UX Researcher, AI on IBM Z / Illustrator