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“For decades now, I’ve been arguing that we should not aim to build the smartest possible machines that replace us in many ways, but we should use these same technologies to help people become a better version of themselves,” says Maes, the Germeshausen Professor of media arts and sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where she heads the Fluid Interfaces research group.
“The whole AI R&D community is so focused on building ever more powerful AI models,” she says. “We think that it’s important to reflect on what will happen when people come to rely on these super-smart systems, day in and day out, to support their entire work and life experience.”
Maes is among researchers at the Media Lab, which celebrated 40 years in 2025, who are focused less on building machines that rival or surpass human intelligence and more on using AI to help people lead healthy and flourishing lives.
Her Fluid Interfaces group draws on psychology, AI, human-computer interaction, and neuroscience to design and test systems that support memory, critical thinking, learning, and health, among other things. The researchers explore how devices like phones, wearables, and laptops can move beyond delivering information to actively enhancing core cognitive and emotional capacities, she says.
The group’s name, Maes explains, reflects its focus on technology that is seamlessly integrated into daily life. She says: “My vision for my group has always been, ‘How can we benefit from technology without technology being the focus of our attention?’”
“We should not forget the bigger picture”
Working along similar lines is Pat Pataranutaporn SM ’20, PhD ’24, PD ’24, the Asahi Broadcasting Corporation Career Development Professor of Media Arts and Sciences who is founding director of the Cyborg Psychology research group and a codirector with Maes of the Advancing Humans with AI research program at the Media Lab.
Pataranutaporn, who completed his PhD in the Fluid Interfaces group under Maes’s mentorship, pursues research at the intersection of AI and human-computer interaction. His Cyborg Psychology team develops personalized AI systems informed by human psychology and behavioral science to augment human capabilities in decision-making, critical thinking, and learning.
“We have this sort of paradox where we celebrate machines becoming more like us, but we start treating other humans like machines,” he says. “To me, that is a sad thing, because in the end, we should not forget the bigger picture of why we develop technology like AI in the first place.
“In my work, we’re trying to ask the question: If the goal is not technology for technology’s sake, but to think about the impact of technology on human flourishing, how do we understand that scientifically?
“That’s what our research is about: trying to uncover the science of human-AI interaction so we can get to the future that we want to live in,” he says.
Memory assistant helps elderly lead independent lives
In a recent conversation, Maes and Pataranutaporn described some of the health-related projects they are currently working on.
Maes said her team is developing Memoro, a wearable device that uses AI to help the elderly in leading independent lives. The system, powered by a rechargeable battery and worn around the ear, acts as a memory assistant, recording conversations that can be called up later as reminders.
“My mother is 95 and for a long time, she’s been writing down everything that you tell her because her memory is terrible,” says Maes. “Of course, her handwriting is also terrible, so she can’t read what she wrote. We have been building a system that helps someone like her as a memory assistant. With permission, the system records conversations, and later she can ask the system, ‘What did my daughter tell me about her son and how he’s doing?’ or ‘What did my doctor tell me again?’ The system also proactively reminds the elderly individual and says, ‘Remember, your sister is coming to visit today.’”
The memory-aid system was developed in consultation with residents of a Newton elderly housing complex who were invited to help design solutions that would help them in their daily lives. Ten older adults residing in the senior living facility subsequently tried out the device for two weeks and found it useful, Maes says. “We continue to develop the technology for the memory assistance and are planning the next version of the system with more functionality,” she says.
Virtual time machine to lower anxiety
One of the systems Pataranutaporn and his team are working on enables users to have an online, text-based conversation with an AI-generated simulation of their potential future selves. By enabling users to chat with an older version of themselves, the AI simulation, called Future You, aims to reduce anxiety and guide young people to make better choices.
“We don’t have a real time machine yet, but AI can be a type of virtual time machine,” he says. “We can use this simulation to help people think more about the longer-term consequences of the choices they are making today.”
Future You utilizes a large language model that draws on information provided by the user to generate a relatable, virtual version of the individual at age 60. This simulated future self can answer questions about what someone’s life in the future could be like, and can offer advice or insights on the path they could follow.
An initial user study found that after interacting with Future You for about half an hour, people reported decreased anxiety about their future and felt a stronger sense of connection with their future selves, which psychologists have shown to be associated with longer-term thinking.
Technology aimed at centering humans, rather than replacing them
The inspiration behind their work, Maes and Pataranutaporn say, is a desire to steer AI in a direction that enables people to lead healthier and more enriching lives.
“Increasingly, our whole life is mediated by AI,” says Maes. “There’s less of a need to interact with others. I’m worried about what that does to our social fabric and ultimately, in the long run, the health of our communities, our families, our society, and democracy.”
Pataranutaporn says, “The question is not what technology can do, but what technology is doing to us. Is it helping us live a better life or achieve our potential?
“Technology is not going to solve human problems,” he says. “Humans can use technology to solve human problems.”
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