SRI Seminar Series: Jon Kleinberg, “The challenge of understanding what users want: Inconsistent preferences and engagement optimization”

The weekly SRI Seminar Series welcomes Jon Kleinberg, a professor of computer science at Cornell University. Kleinberg’s research focuses on issues at the interface of networks and information, with an emphasis on the social and information networks that underpin the web and other online media. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and serves on the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation, and the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Research Council.

In this talk, Kleinberg proposes a revised method for online platforms to optimize user experience, based on an insight that users have inconsistent preferences and their activity does not always reflect their preferences. Using a framework guided by two conflicting sets of user preferences—one that operates impulsively in the moment, and one that makes plans over longer time scales—Kleinberg will explore new insights regarding interactions between design, behavioral science, and social media.