A Research Ensemble of Humans, Machines, and Algorithms: Future Designs of Research and Scholarly Communication

Bill Hart-Davidson's “Writing with Robots” [1] describes current practices of creating augmented research and writing teams that include robots, algorithms, and other machine partners with their human collaborators in designed space. In writing about emergent workplace practices in high technology environments, we (authors Michael and John) created a team of researchers, undergraduate research interns, and robot assistants to create the forthcoming book Artificial Infrastructures. In preparing the book, we used Otter.ai [2] to transcribe interviews with three working professionals. These rough transcriptions, produced by algorithmic assistants, saved the team important resources, namely time, money, and attention. Transcription tools like Otter.ai quickly create transliterated texts—word-for-word transcripts of spoken speech. In our ensemble, transcriptions were then edited by undergraduate researchers trained using Weiss's Learning From Strangers [3] as well as practice editing transcripts of other recordings of subject matter experts. The core finding was that we, as researchers, were able to concentrate on writing our analyses and organizing book contents while our undergraduate team members remained focused and more productive than previous teams working without advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Overall, it was a productive and enjoyable research process with less frustration and tedious, repetitious work, leading to more productive engagement. Our initial findings suggest that as long as researchers retain their autonomy in establishing the study agenda, and SMEs are informed how AI tools are going to be used, research can be streamlined and made more productive. We are realizing the Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HCAI) outlined in Shneiderman [4] in which AI becomes a “superpower.” This experience report describes how AI tools, such as Otter.ai's transcription service, played a role in our research ensemble for creating our forthcoming book Artificial Infrastructures. It outlines the research team structure, use of AI tools, and the interplay between human and algorithmic agents to create a research ensemble that gestures towards a future for the design of communication.