Vyjayanthi Vadrevu

Applied Anthropologist, Rasa.nyc Vyjayanthi Vadrevu is the founding ethnographer/strategist of Rasa.nyc. She leads research on projects ranging from social impact design to corporate technology innovation. She also held a position as adjunct professor at CUNY, teaching courses in applied anthropology and autoethnography. She previously led UX research at Capital One’s Innovation Lab and designed her role as ‘Developer Anthropologist’ at Rackspace. Vyjayanthi has given talks ranging from Applied Anthropology to Ethnography and Indian Classical Dance to Anthropology, AI, and Ethics. She was a speaker at the EPIC (a global ethnography conference), IDSA events, and Beyond Roadmap’s AI Talks–a series centered around bringing practical AI tips to product innovation. Vyjayanthi uses anthropology to understand humans in various contexts and applies these observations to her screenplays and choreographed dance pieces. Her screenplays have placed in the top 25% in ScreenCraft, Coverfly, Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards, and other screenwriting competitions. She has performed semi-classical Indian dance all over the world.

Applied Anthropologist, Rasa.nyc

Vyjayanthi Vadrevu is the founding ethnographer/strategist of Rasa.nyc. She leads research on projects ranging from social impact design to corporate technology innovation. She also held a position as adjunct professor at CUNY, teaching courses in applied anthropology and autoethnography. She previously led UX research at Capital One’s Innovation Lab and designed her role as 'Developer Anthropologist' at Rackspace.

Vyjayanthi has given talks ranging from Applied Anthropology to Ethnography and Indian Classical Dance to Anthropology, AI, and Ethics. She was a speaker at the EPIC (a global ethnography conference), IDSA events, and Beyond Roadmap’s AI Talks–a series centered around bringing practical AI tips to product innovation.

Vyjayanthi uses anthropology to understand humans in various contexts and applies these observations to her screenplays and choreographed dance pieces. Her screenplays have placed in the top 25% in ScreenCraft, Coverfly, Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards, and other screenwriting competitions. She has performed semi-classical Indian dance all over the world.

Activities for Vyjayanthi

Speaker | Designing with AI Deep Dive | 2024

Think Like an Anthropologist

How can we ensure AI algorithms actually support human needs? By thinking like an anthropologist, designers ground AI-assisted design in human truths. 

AI operates swiftly but lacks nuanced cultural awareness. By understanding a range of subcultural values, habits, taboos, and practices, designers can frame problems more holistically before becoming prey to the limitations of AI tools. Knowing why certain design features must be included, how they enhance the end users’ lives, and where they can fit into existing cultural habits and practices is key to countering AI biases, limitations, and hallucinations.

Designers must look into who is designing the AI tools, and which perspectives and biases are built into, or excluded from, these tools. This will help clarify when AI options enhance the design process, and when they lead the designer astray.

The ultimate goal isn’t elevating technology, but deepening our humanity.

Key Takeaways

An anthropological framework for design considerations that supplement what AI tools can’t offer
Turning a discerning eye towards who is creating the AI algorithms, which datasets are used to train the models, and, as a result, knowing which human perspectives are NOT being considered
Anthropologist’s perspectives on which human phenomena AI can never replace: intuition, soul, cultural shifts, and embodied human experiences
Rule of thumb for where AI will help, and where it will hinder, the design output as far as incorporating cultural perspectives and real human experiences to make the final product more useful and sustainable