CS&E Colloquium: Why do machines now show intelligence? And how can we use this to augment humans.

The computer science colloquium takes place on Mondays from 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. This week's speaker, Mar Gonzalez-Franco (Google), will be giving a talk titled "Why do machines now show intelligence? And how can we use this to augment humans"

Abstract

The arrival of AI puts additional pressure on redefining how humans will interact with machines. Until now, humans have been the brains that orchestrated what machines have done; however, with AI, we can see a future where this will need to happen in a cooperative way, and computers might even become fully independent in their actions and decisions. This talk presents a future where AI becomes more interactive as humans use it via XR devices. For this, we will need better XR–AI interaction metaphors and better inputs to convey intent to the AI. This interactive approach has the potential to enable humans to evolve as AI evolves and unlock tremendous benefits for the general population. The talk also does a retrospective into how we have reached the current moment.

Biography

Dr. Mar Gonzalez-Franco is a Computer Scientist and Neuroscientist working at the intersection of human and artificial intelligence. She currently leads a 30+ people organization at Google, including the the Blended Intelligence Research and Devices (BIRD) lab where she focuses on augmenting human capabilities by blending innate intelligence with AI through immersive experiences. Her team has led the research and product development for input and interactions to the new XR OS, Android XR, that recently launched with the Samsung Galaxy XR as the first XRAI OS. The work of the team on setting up the guidelines for inputs on XR Operating Systems was recently recognized with the SIGCHI Special Recognition in 2025. Previously, as a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, Dr. Gonzalez-Franco led the release of multiple Avatar libraries for research and the development of Avatars and Together Mode in Microsoft Teams, a feature recognized as one of Time Magazine's "Best Inventions of 2022" A pioneer in immersive AI and AR/VR, she holds over 40 patents and has authored more than 100 academic publications.