Designing AI Conversations

50 years since Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ was made, smart devices are slowly becoming part of our daily lives.

From Alexa and Siri to Google Assistant, every major tech company has poured resources into developing voice user interfaces that use conversational AI and machine learning to predict what we want and assist us in our daily lives.

Join speakers from The Washington Post, NPR and Capital One as they showcase their most innovative voice enabled products and conversational AI’s. followed by a panel discussion that explores the processes, challenges and ethics of designing for conversation.

Joey Marburger @josephjames

Director of Product, The Washington Post

Joey Marburger was labeled as The Washington Post’s punk rock star by Digiday for the work he’s accomplished as Director of Product. During his time at The Post, there has been immense growth which Columbia Journalism Review called a ‘revolution.’ Most recently, Fast Company placed him at number 13 on their Most Creative People in Business 2017 list.

Marburger leads a team of product designers and managers overseeing the development and design of digital products such as washingtonpost.com, Android and iOS apps, distributed news, and a variety of other platforms. He has been at The Post for more than eight years, moving from Mobile Design Director to Director of Digital Products and Design to his current role. He has also worked at Gannett and the Indianapolis Star.

He lives in Northeast D.C. with his wife, Cas, the social media manager for the Truth Initiative Foundation, and their black Labrador retriever, Walt.

Audra Koklys Plummer @audrakoklysplummer

Head of AI Design, Capital One

Audra is Head of AI Design and leads the team designing Capital One’s Conversational AI. This includes Eno, the first gender-neutral, intelligent assistant from a U.S. Bank, and the Capital One skills on Alexa and Cortana.

Before joining Capital One, Audra spent 20+ years working as a filmmaker for studios like Pixar, DreamWorks and Lucasfilm, and as a documentarian flying search and rescue missions with the U.S. Coast Guard. Despite being a freak accident magnet she lives a quiet life in Falls Church, VA, and is often overheard telling her three amazing children she’s not home so she can write and drink her chai lattes in peace.

Ha-Hoa Hamano @hahoais

Senior Product Manager, NPR Digital Media

Ha-Hoa Hamano has been spurring efforts to make NPR accessible to users on a range of new platforms, including connected cars and smart TVs. In 2017, she played a crucial part in NPR’s push to bring its vast world of content to smart speakers, where NPR is a top option for news updates on all major platforms.

Brockette Horne @brocketthorne

Chair, Graphic Design, MICA

Brockett Horne is a designer, educator, and writer. She serves as chair of graphic design at MICA, where she teaches fierce sophomores and daring juniors. She has been exhibited and honored with multiple design awards, is a past Rotary International Scholar, and has work in the permanent collection of the RISD Museum of Art. Her creative work is inspired by a desire to encourage the spectator to learn while looking. Clients include the Baltimore Museum of Art, Johns Hopkins University, Polaris Project, and the Taproot Foundation, among others.

She holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design, and an MA from the Bard graduate Center (with double thesae in art history and graphic design).