What I do

At its very core, my work focuses on observation and storytelling through various mediums. I am an engineer, an artist, and a sociologist. Most of all, I believe there is power in creating beautiful things to express love and compassion.

I’m a senior software engineer at Arize AI, where I design and build front-end systems for an AI assistant that helps developers understand, debug, evaluate, and monitor AI models [patent]. I started at Arize six years ago as a PR intern, then moved into technical marketing, where I wrote documentation, built workshops, and helped explain machine learning systems to users. Over time, I became more interested in not just explaining technical systems, but shaping how people experience them. Today, I focus on the interface layer of AI: how complex systems present themselves, how trust is built with customers, and how to build simple yet powerful interactions with humanity at the forefront.

I run a creative studio where I photograph and creative-direct editorial photoshoots for brands, events, and individuals [portfolio]. My design work is rooted in a long-standing impulse to express how I see the world, and over time that instinct has evolved to include a technical lens. In 2020, I created a project called Machine in Relief [instagram], using a generative adversarial network to create imagery for a textile concept. That experience pushed me to think about AI not only as a technical system, but also as a creative material and a cultural force.

I maintain an email notification service for the Jewish community in Connecticut that helps circulate information about community deaths [website] I coordinate releases with funeral homes, provide technical support, and help keep a system running that has become part of how people grieve and show up for each other. I believe technology is more impactful when it's built for a real community than when it's designed for the masses.

UC Berkeley, B.A. Sociology.

What I think about

I'm interested in how AI interfaces shape human cognition and belief. The design of an AI system doesn't just determine what a person can do with it. It shapes what they think is true, what they trust, and what they never think to question.

I'm also interested in randomness. AI converges toward the probable, but so much of what makes art, communication, and experience feel alive comes from the improbable. I want to study what happens when we systematically filter that out.

I’m drawn to both the pixel perfect and the sociotechnical side of the problem. I like building thoughtful systems, and I like studying what those systems do once they enter the world. I’m interested in interfaces not just because they help people use AI, but because they shape how people understand AI and themselves in relation to it.

What I want to study

My primary research interest is how AI systems shape human cognition and belief through interface design. I'm particularly focused on the subtle ways that AI-mediated experience narrows what people encounter, think, and create. If AI converges toward the probable, what happens to the improbable? I want to study how the systematic filtering of statistical outliers affects creativity, expression, and the texture of everyday life.

I'm particularly interested in the role of randomness in AI systems. Randomness is fundamental to what makes art compelling, communication genuine, and experience rich. I see an opportunity to design AI systems that preserve and amplify that rather than flatten it, injecting creativity and aesthetic sensibility into how humans and AI think together.

I'm also exploring how AI is reshaping social solidarity. Borrowing from Durkheim, I think of AI as a mechanism of change on the scale of industrialization. Industrialization moved us from mechanical solidarity to organic solidarity. I think AI is moving us into something new, what I'm calling nuclear solidarity, where we're connected by shared knowledge rather than shared labor. But right now we're in a period of anomie, the turbulent gap between the old social contract and the new one. If this transition is motivated by profit and shareholder value, we'll build a future without humanity at its core.

I think the answer is the same one that emerged after the Industrial Revolution: aesthetics. The way the Arts and Crafts movement insisted on beauty and craft as a response to mechanization, we need an aesthetic response to AI. Thoughtful design, sensory experience, and a consideration for humanity are how we ensure that AI serves people in leading a good life rather than just maximizing efficiency.

How I communicate

JavaScript, TypeScript, React, CSS, HTML, GraphQL, Spectrum

English (native), Mandarin (conversational)

Writing, talks, and press

• KubeCon Panel: How To Overcome Imposter Syndrome (press)
• HikerKind: Why I Love Hiking (press)
• Forbes: Women in AI to Watch (author/interviewer)
• How to Monitor Ranking Models (author)
• Understanding Coded Bias (author)
• Industry Guide to AI/ML (author)

Outside of work

My curiosity extends beyond the technical and creative world. I like to push the limits physically, I've biked from Seattle to Portland in one day, scaled mountains across the US, and I spend a lot of time outdoors to balance the time I spend in my head. I love hiking, climbing, yoga, and salsa dancing.

My favorite thing of all time, though, is to spend time with those I love and a good belly laugh <3

Like what you see? Email me at krystal.kirkland.l@gmail.com