{"id":2713,"date":"2025-01-27T15:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T20:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/?p=2713"},"modified":"2025-04-18T13:55:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T17:55:01","slug":"the-human-side-of-computing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/","title":{"rendered":"The human side of computing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n

Computer Science Professor John Magee is interested in learning how systems can improve people\u2019s lives. Magee works with user interface technologies that allow people with disabilities to communicate and participate in the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"John<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Using technology to solve problems and improve lives<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe neat thing about computer science is it\u2019s all about helping people solve problems or do things,\u201d Magee<\/a> says. \u201cSometimes those problems are in computing, but very often they\u2019re problems that face scientists in other fields.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His passion for helping others through technology started when he was an undergraduate student assisting on a project that helps people use a computer mouse without the use of their hands. Instead of pointing and clicking with their finger, Magee can coordinate computer systems so that blinking, for example, controls a computer mouse click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was the moment where I first really saw the human side of computing and the difference that it can make for people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Magee\u2019s area of research\u2014computer vision, AI, and machine learning\u2014dominates the computer science field. And as interim provost for Clark, he is guiding faculty and students as they adjust to technological advances like ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is still room for the human, however, he says. As faculty integrate AI and other technological advances in the classroom, he asks, \u201cWhat can students do that can be possibly augmented by those tools, not replaced by the tools? How do we ensure that students can still analyze a piece of literature or create art or describe what art is?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can still pose an intellectual problem as a human, and if you figure out how to use a particular tool, it might allow you to be more effective in solving that problem,\u201d Magee says. \u201cComputer scientists recognize that the most interesting problems are not computational but societal. Understanding the world\u2019s problems from a humanities perspective is vitally important.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
Department of COMPUTER SCIENCE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Computer Science Professor John Magee is interested in learning how systems can improve people\u2019s lives. Magee works with user interface technologies that allow people with disabilities to communicate and participate in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":2829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"research-initiaive","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-2713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-highlights","tag-department-of-computer-science"],"yoast_head":"\nThe human side of computing | Clark University | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The human side of computing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Computer Science Professor John Magee is interested in learning how systems can improve people\u2019s lives. Magee works with user interface technologies that allow people with disabilities to communicate and participate in the world.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Clark University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClarkUniversityWorcester\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-27T20:15:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-18T17:55:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/John-Magee-student.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Meredith King\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/\"},\"headline\":\"The human side of computing\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-27T20:15:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-18T17:55:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":332,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/John-Magee-student.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Department of Computer Science\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Research Highlights\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/\",\"name\":\"The human side of computing | Clark University | Clark University\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/John-Magee-student.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-27T20:15:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-18T17:55:01+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/research-highlights\\\/the-human-side-of-computing\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/John-Magee-student.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/John-Magee-student.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1125,\"caption\":\"John Magee helping a computer science student on their project\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"Clark University\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Clark University\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/clarku_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/clarku_logo.png\",\"width\":91,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Clark University\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ClarkUniversityWorcester\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/clarkuniversity\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/clarkuniversity\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The human side of computing | Clark University | Clark University","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The human side of computing","og_description":"Computer Science Professor John Magee is interested in learning how systems can improve people\u2019s lives. Magee works with user interface technologies that allow people with disabilities to communicate and participate in the world.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/","og_site_name":"Clark University","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClarkUniversityWorcester","article_published_time":"2025-01-27T20:15:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-18T17:55:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1125,"url":"http:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/John-Magee-student.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@clarkuniversity","twitter_site":"@clarkuniversity","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Meredith King","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/"},"headline":"The human side of computing","datePublished":"2025-01-27T20:15:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-18T17:55:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/"},"wordCount":332,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/John-Magee-student.jpg","keywords":["Department of Computer Science"],"articleSection":["Research Highlights"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/","name":"The human side of computing | Clark University | Clark University","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/John-Magee-student.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-27T20:15:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-18T17:55:01+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/research-highlights\/the-human-side-of-computing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/John-Magee-student.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/John-Magee-student.jpg","width":2000,"height":1125,"caption":"John Magee helping a computer science student on their project"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/","name":"Clark University","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/#organization","name":"Clark University","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/clarku_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/clarku_logo.png","width":91,"height":90,"caption":"Clark University"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClarkUniversityWorcester","https:\/\/x.com\/clarkuniversity","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/clarkuniversity\/"]}]}},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/John-Magee-student-1024x576.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2713"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4271,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2713\/revisions\/4271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}