Carol and Erin welcome George Whitfield, an expert in applying AI to the analysis of qualitative data. George discusses the intricate challenges of leveraging language models to interpret expansive open-ended data (like interview transcripts), emphasizing the importance of context and not just keyword or topic identification.
They'll dig into the crucial role of human oversight in AI, what preliminary analysis might look like using AI, how to check and refine the work of an AI assistant without derailing your project delivery date, and recommendations for etiquette regarding the reporting of AI-informed results.
The episode closes with an exploration of the limits of AI and where user experience researchers can play a larger role in its development. George believes AI can (and should) inspire new directions of research, but not dictate them.
Episode Highlights
About Our Guest
George Whitfield is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and CEO at FindOurView. As CEO of his most recent company FindOurView, he launched a Gen AI product to help user researchers synthesize insights faster from high volumes of customer interviews. George holds 4 patents and has 3 degrees from MIT including a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a Masters and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering.
Resources on Qual Data and AI
#146 - Building a UX Research Team From Scratch with Julian Della Mattia of the180
#145 - Kick-Start Creativity Using Desk Research with Victoria Sakal of Wonder
#144 - The Craft of Sample Sizes with Lauren Stern of WHOOP
#142 - Quantifying Research Impact with Ruby Pryor of Rex
#141 - The Chaos Theory of Event Networking with Bryan Dosono of eBay
#140 - Should You Leave Academia? Advice for Researchers with Joe Stubenrauch
#139 - Content Design and the Power of Simple Language with Erica Jorgensen
#138 - Designers as Change Agents with Maria Giudice
#137 - Practical Strategies to Foster Customer Obsession with Prayag Narula, CEO and Co-Founder of Marvin
#136 - Designing Generative AI at Notion with Linus Lee
#135 - How to Influence Stakeholders with Strategic Research with Andrea Amorós, Associate Principal Researcher at ADP
#134 - The End of an Era: A Fond Farewell to JH
#133 - Driving Actionable Decisions from Insights with Pejman Mirza-Babaei, UX Research Consultant
#132 - Unveiling UX Insights with Competitive Research with Rachel Miles, Research Lead at IBM
#131 - Designing Beyond the Product: Systems Thinking with Sheryl Cababa, Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial
#130 - The Art of Great Facilitation for Better Collaboration with Marsha Acker, Founder and CEO of TeamCatapult
#129 - How to Upskill Product Teams in UX Research with Helen Devine, UX Research Manager at The Economist
#128 - The Value of “Scrappy” Research with Varun Murugesan, Co-Founder of Apple and Banana
#127 - The Power of Failure with Kevin Kelly, Publisher and Founding Editor of Wired
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