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AI Meets UX: 3 Emerging Jobs at the Intersection

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Have you noticed how artificial intelligence is increasingly impacting the user experience design field? As AI tools and capabilities evolve, new roles are emerging at the intersection of AI and UX. Whether you’re a designer looking to expand your skills or exploring career options, these hybrid positions are worth paying attention to.

They blend expertise in human-centered design with knowledge of AI, machine learning, and natural language processing. Professionals in these roles act as a bridge between the data scientists building the algorithms and the designers enhancing the user experience. They have a strong understanding of UX principles and methods as well as the capabilities and limitations of AI systems.

If staying on the cutting edge of tech and shaping the future of user experiences sounds exciting, read on to discover three emerging jobs at the intersection of AI and UX. The options may surprise you.

UX Designer Meets AI: The Rise of the AI Interaction Designer

The rise of AI has created exciting new roles at the intersection of UX and AI. One emerging job is the AI Interaction Designer. As AI systems become more advanced, interacting with them in a seamless and intuitive way is crucial.

AI Interaction Designers focus on creating engaging user experiences with AI assistants, bots, and other intelligent systems. Their goal is to make AI feel natural and helpful. To do this, they study how people communicate with each other and apply those insights to AI interactions. They consider things like:

  • The right conversational style for an AI system to have
  • How an AI should respond in different situations
  • What questions and responses are most helpful
  • How to make complex AI capabilities easy to access

AI Interaction Designers work closely with UX designers, AI engineers, and product managers. They help determine an AI system’s personality, voice, and abilities based on the needs of target users. Their role is increasingly important as AI becomes more deeply integrated into digital products and services.

If you’re interested in shaping how people experience and benefit from AI, this emerging field could be for you. AI Interaction Designers are creative, empathetic, and excited about the possibilities of AI. With some experience in UX design, research, or a related area, you’ll be well equipped to help define the future of human-AI interaction. The demand for this role will only continue to grow as companies invest in AI and realize the value of great user experiences.

Data Scientist + UX Researcher = AI User Researcher

With AI and UX research starting to overlap, a new role has emerged: the AI User Researcher. This hybrid job combines the skills of a data scientist and UX researcher to help companies build AI products and services that actually meet user needs.

As an AI User Researcher, you analyze how people interact with AI systems and interfaces. Using data and UX research methods like surveys, interviews, and usability testing, you identify patterns in user behavior and pain points. Then you translate your findings into actionable insights that AI and product teams can use to improve the user experience.

Some of your day-to-day tasks may include:

Collecting and analyzing user data from AI apps, devices, and services

  • Conducting UX research studies on AI products to understand user perceptions, experiences and desires
  • Identifying key user needs, frustrations, and suggestions for AI systems
  • Communicating insights and recommendations to data scientists, UX designers, and product managers in an easy-to-understand way
  • Staying up-to-date with advancements in AI, data science, and UX to improve your skills

If you’re fascinated by emerging tech but also passionate about creating great user experiences, a career as an AI User Researcher could be an exciting path. You get to shape the future of AI by putting people first. Not a bad way to spend your day, if you ask us!

AI Content Strategist: Optimizing UX Content for AI Applications

An AI Content Strategist helps optimize content for AI applications and voice assistants. As AI systems get better at understanding natural language, the content that feeds them needs to be highly optimized. This role emerged to bridge the gap between AI engineers building the systems and content creators producing the content.

Optimizing Content for AI

AI Content Strategists analyze how people interact with AI systems and voice assistants to determine patterns in the types of questions asked and how the AI responds. They then optimize content by rewriting it to be:

  • Concise yet descriptive. AI systems don’t handle long, complex sentences well. Content needs to be simplified without losing meaning.
  • Consistent in style and tone. The AI’s responses need to sound natural and match the overall brand voice. Variations in style can confuse AI systems.
  • Structured for easy comprehension. Strategists may reorganize content into bullet points, numbered lists, tables or other formats that are easy for an AI to understand and respond to accurately.
  • Inclusive and unbiased. Strategists review content to ensure AI systems provide equitable responses regardless of gender, ethnicity or other attributes. They make adjustments to avoid perpetuating unfair stereotypes or marginalizing groups of people.

Collaborating Across Teams

AI Content Strategists work with UX writers, content creators, and AI engineers to understand how people interact with AI systems and ensure the content enables the best experience. They help educate other content teams on best practices for optimizing content for AI and voice interfaces. Their role is key to providing engaging, helpful AI experiences for all users.

The emergence of AI has created many new opportunities at the intersection of user experience and technology. AI Content Strategists are instrumental in developing AI systems that can have meaningful, empathetic conversations. By optimizing content, they help enable smarter AI and better experiences for people interacting with these systems.

UX Writers Get an AI Upgrade as Conversational UI Designers

As AI progresses, it’s enhancing some existing UX roles and creating new opportunities. One emerging job at the intersection of AI and UX is the conversational UI designer.

The Conversational UI Designer

Conversational UI designers focus on creating engaging user experiences through chatbots, voice assistants, and other conversational interfaces. They’re responsible for designing the dialog flow, personality, and responses for AI systems that can understand and respond to natural language.

Some of the key skills for this role include:

  • Proficiency in conversational UI platforms like Dialogflow, Watson Assistant, and Alexa Skills Kit. These tools help in building chatbots and voice skills.
  • Strong writing and communication abilities. Conversational UI designers need to craft natural-sounding conversations and responses.
  • Knowledge of UX design principles. Things like user flows, wireframing, prototyping, and testing are still important for crafting great conversational experiences.
  • Understanding of natural language processing (NLP) and how AI systems understand user input. This helps in anticipating issues users may encounter and designing suitable responses.
  • Staying up-to-date with trends in conversational interfaces. As technology and user expectations evolve, conversational UI designers have to continue expanding their skills.

If you’re interested in the intersection of UX, writing, and emerging tech like AI, the conversational UI designer role could be an exciting new avenue. The demand for these skills will likely only increase as more companies adopt conversational interfaces to improve customer engagement and experience. With some additional training, this could be a great career path for UX writers and designers looking to future-proof their jobs.

The Ethical AI Advocate: Ensuring AI Aligns With UX Values

The role of Ethical AI Advocate has emerged to ensure AI systems are designed and built responsibly. As AI becomes integrated into more user experiences, it’s crucial that the teams building these systems consider the ethical implications. Ethical AI Advocates work with UX designers, researchers, and engineers to make sure values like transparency, accountability, and fairness are baked into AI products from the start.

Identifying AI’s Impact Points

The first step is determining how AI could potentially impact users, whether positively or negatively. The Ethical AI Advocate analyzes how the AI system collects and uses data, makes decisions, and affects people’s lives. They consider vulnerable groups who could be unfairly disadvantaged and look for unintended consequences that could arise from the technology. By pinpointing the impact points early on, teams can make adjustments to avoid harmful outcomes.

Establishing Guardrails

With the impact points identified, the Ethical AI Advocate helps establish guidelines to keep the development of the AI system on the right track. These “guardrails” ensure that human values are upheld in the product design and functionality. For example, if an AI assistant is being built, the guardrails might specify that the assistant should avoid gender bias, protect people’s privacy, and be transparent about its data collection practices. The guardrails provide principles for the team to refer back to throughout the development process.

Auditing and Monitoring AI

Even with the best of intentions, AI systems can still go awry. Ethical AI Advocates continuously audit AI products to detect issues like unfairness or deception before public release. They also monitor AI systems post-launch to identify emerging problems and see how the technology is impacting users in real-world conditions. Regular auditing and monitoring allow teams to make improvements, address concerns, and strengthen the guardrails to better align the AI with ethical values.

The role of Ethical AI Advocate is key to developing AI that is human-centered and responsible. By considering ethics every step of the way, from design to development to real-world use, AI can enhance user experiences rather than diminish them. The Ethical AI Advocate helps ensure that AI progress benefits and empowers users.

Conclusion

So there you have it, three exciting new career paths that sit at the intersection of AI and UX. As companies continue to invest in new technologies, the demand for these hybrid roles will only grow. If you have skills and interests spanning both user experience design and artificial intelligence, the future looks bright. These jobs allow you to shape how AI systems are built to serve human needs. You get to help ensure the responsible and ethical development of new technologies. And you have the opportunity to craft innovative user experiences enhanced by the power of AI. The work is challenging but rewarding. And the impact can be huge. If any of these paths appeal to you, now is the time to start developing the necessary skills and experience. The world of AI and UX needs talented individuals like yourself to help guide the way.