Crowd Control

This week, Jessica and Michael discuss public projects from the New Zealand flag referendum to the mishap that was Tay—Microsoft’s “bizarrely optimistic experiment” with a bot whose persona was informed by the biliousness of Twitter. Tay was “an example of bad design,” as interaction designer Caroline Sinders wrote.

Microsoft apologizes for Tay

Adrienne LaFrance, “What Is a Robot?,” from The Atlantic

More on Tay from Sarah Jeong, Ben Brown, and Alexis Lloyd

A primer on Boaty McBoatface

Apple ResearchKit

New Zealand votes to keep its flag

Anne Perkins, It’s not enough to tweet your grief

Thanks to Stumptown Coffee Roasters for sponsoring this episode.

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By Michael Bierut & Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer and a former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Communications Arts and Eye magazines. A member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame, Helfand received her B.A. and her M.F.A. from Yale University where she has taught since 1994.

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