Co-Opting AI: Architecture
NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge, Sloane Lab, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia invite you to a new discussion in the series “Co-Opting AI.” This will be a completely virtual event.
This event will spotlight how AI systems intervene into one of the most fundamental aspects of society: designing and constructing dwellings.
Please register for the event here.
Phil Bernstein is Deputy Dean and Professor, Adjunct at the School of Architecture at Yale University, where he teaches courses in professional practice, project delivery, and technology. He was formerly a vice president at Autodesk, where he was responsible for setting the company’s AEC vision and strategy for technology. Prior to joining Autodesk, Phil practiced architecture as an associate principal at Cesar Pelli & Associates where he managed many of the firm’s most complex commissions, including projects for Reagan National Airport, the Mayo Clinic, UCLA, and Goldman Sachs. He writes extensively on issues of architectural practice and technology, and his books include Architecture | Design | Data – Practice Competency in the Era of Computation (Birkhauser, 2018) and Machine Learning: Architectural Futures in the Era of Artificial Intelligence (RIBA, 2022). Phil has been honored twice by DesignIntelligence as one of the “30 Most Admired Educators in Architecture” and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Architecture from Yale, and is licensed to practice in California.
Jay Cephas, Ph.D., is an architectural historian and urbanist exploring the intersections of technology, subjectivity, andspace. His research uncovers hidden knowledge in urban environments, with a focus on labor and cooperative housing in cities like Detroit and New York. Jay is the recipient of a Graham Foundation Grant for the Black Architects Archive, a tool for computational analysis and curriculum diversification in architectural history. His recent works include “Picturing Modernity” and “Agricultural Urbanism in Detroit.” Jay is also the founding director of Studio Plat, a geospatial research practice aimed at advancing social impact urbanism. He teaches at Princeton University and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and an M.Arch. from the University of Detroit Mercy.
Molly Wright Steenson, Ph.D., is the CEO & President of the American Swedish Institute, a 95 year-old museum and cultural institution, and an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the School of Design (on leave). She is an internationally recognized author, historian, and designer whose research interests include AI, architecture, design, and craft practices. She is the author of Architectural Intelligence: How Designers and Architects Created the Digital Landscape (2017) and the co-edited book Bauhaus Futures (2019), both on MIT Press. From 2015–23 at Carnegie Mellon, she was Vice Provost for Faculty and held the inaugural K&L Gates Associate Professorship in Ethics and Computational Technologies. and associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She holds a PhD in Architecture from Princeton University.
Mona Sloane, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Data Science and Media Studies at the University of Virginia (UVA). As a sociologist, she studies the intersection of technology and society, specifically in the context of AI design, use, and policy. She also convenes the Co-Opting AI series and serves as the editor of the Co-Opting AI book series at the University of California Press as well as the Technology Editor for Public Books. At UVA, Mona runs Sloane Lab which conducts empirical research on the implications of technology for the organization of social life. Its focus lies on AI as a social phenomenon that intersects with wider cultural, economic, material, and political conditions. The lab spearheads social science leadership in applied work on responsible AI, public scholarship, and technology policy. More here: monasloane.org.
The Co-Opting AI event series is convened by Mona Sloane. It is hosted by NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge, UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, and Sloane Lab.