User modelling with forgetting and uncertainty

As technology pervades our lives in an increasingly rich ecosystem of digital devices, they can capture huge amounts of long-term personal data. A core theme of my research has been to create systems and interfaces that enable people to harness and control that data and its use. My group has created the Personis user modelling framework as a foundation for exploring diverse to do that. This talk will present examples of that work. This first is inspired by the powerful role of forgetting in human memory. Drawing on this, we created forms of use model that enable user to control the forgetting within the model. A second example is the Personal User Model for Life (PUML). This creates an entirely client side long-term model of the user, essentially making external applications forgetting about the user. Finally, the talk will share work on creating interfaces that enable people to see useful aspects of their long-term user model. The interface design tackles key challenges such as the effective representation of uncertainty and the scaffolding that enables people to learn to see themselves.

Bio: Judy Kay is Payne-Scott Distinguished Professor of Computer Science. She leads the Human Centred Technology Research Cluster, in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney. A core focus of her research has been to create infrastructures and interfaces for personalisation, especially to support people in lifelong, life-wide learning. This ranges from formal education settings to supporting people in harnessing the long-term data from their personal digital eco-system, to support self-monitoring, reflection and planning. She has created new forms of interaction including virtual reality, surface computing, wearables and ambient displays. Her research has been commercialised and deployed and she has extensive publications in leading venues for research in user modelling, AIED, human computer interaction and ubicomp. She has had leadership roles in top conferences in these areas and is Editor-in-Chief of the IJAIED, International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education (IJAIED) and Editor of IMWUT, Interactive Mobile Wearable and Ubiquitous Technology (IMWUT). She is on the editorial board of User Modeling and User Adapted Interaction (UMUAI) and the Advisory Board of Transactions on Intelligent Interactive Systems (TiiS).