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Humanistic Technologists Design For The Now
There’s a long history in the RCA of connecting technology with irresolvable challenges that humanity is currently facing. I selected works by a few emerging “humanistic technologists” who cover contemporary concerns of managing how we engage with reality and the dark, but bright magic of machine learning and AI. The way that Kaleido, Geia, and [Films] In a Small Room all speak to our shifting, somewhat adversarial relationship towards space is especially relevant in our post- pandemic universe. Frankly, I expected to see more critical works like Cloudy Logic that address what happens when companies and entities in our world start to learn how to speaks machine — that will likely come in work by the future humanist technologists of the RCA. —John Maeda
John Maeda
John Maeda is an American technologist, designer, engineer, artist, investor, writer and teacher. He was recently appointed Chief Experience Officer at Publicis Sapient, the technology consulting and delivery arm of communications conglomerate Publicis. He has held positions with Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, led research at the MIT Media Lab, and served as president of the Rhode Island School of Design.
Named as one of the 75 most influential people of the twenty-first century by Esquire, Maeda draws on his diverse background as an MIT-trained engineer, award-winning designer and executive leader to bring people and ideas together at scale. He is the author of several celebrated books, including The Laws of Simplicity and Redesigning Leadership. He has appeared as a speaker all over the world, from Davos to Beijing to São Paulo to New York, and his talks for TED.com have received millions of views. He was born, raised and lives in the United States of America.
