Congratulations to ACM Fellow Diane J. Cook!
Written by Taneea S Agrawaal and Adriana Wilde
Professor Diane J. Cook, a Regents Professor at Washington State University, is a widely recognised computer scientist, who has most recently been named an ACM Fellow, an honour given to outstanding computing professionals who have made significant contributions to the field.
Diane’s contributions have focused on developing AI-driven smart environments that can learn human behaviour patterns and support individuals (particularly older adults and people with disabilities) in their daily lives. She has led pioneering research in human activity recognition, sensor-based data analysis, and AI applications for healthcare.
We are delighted to have this exclusive interview for ACM Women.
Smart Environments and AI
ACM-W: Your research has significantly advanced smart environments and AI-driven healthcare. What excites you most about the current state of this field, and what breakthroughs do you foresee in the near future?
Diane: The technologies that are needed for digital health – including sensing, ubiquitous computing, data processing, and machine learning – have all matured so rapidly in the past ten years that it is now possible to longitudinally and continuously model human behavior. From that beginning, we can start to build a human digital twin that improves automated health assessment and intervention. The result will allow medicine to be completely personalized to all observed and inferred facets of the individual.
The Human Side of AI
ACM-W: The idea of personalised medicine is very interesting! With AI playing such a key role in achieving that vision, how do you approach designing intelligent systems that are both ethical and inclusive? We know that many of our readers are concerned about “the dark side of AI”. What would you tell them?
Diane: I feel that as researchers, we must consider the short-term and long-term implications of the technology. In the short term, we see the allure of automated assistants and medical advisors, while we take steps to safeguard a person’s identity. In the longer term, we need to consider how a person’s sensitive information can be inferred from trained models. While we can design methods that act as a “prosthetic,” performing tasks that are difficult for individuals with cognitive or physical limitations, we can also create technologies that support individuals in strengthening their own ability to perform independent activities, form meaningful relationships, and improve their well-being.
ACM-W: You have worked in this space for a long time. I first heard of your smart home research close to twenty years ago, and although now it is a prevalent term to the layperson it has not always been this way. What would you say is the main outcome of the CASAS project, which you have led?
Diane: When we explored the idea of smart homes (first the MavHome at University of Texas Arlington then CASAS at Washington State University), the concept was largely theoretical, with limited real-world applications. I had been inspired by the “smart home” at the Texas state fair, which represented a very connected home (the resident could easily communicate with devices throughout the space) but I felt it was not smart because it did not reason about what it sensed and take action to improve the space for the resident. We initially performed some simple experiments to see if AI techniques could anticipate a person’s interaction with the home, and were actually surprised that they could! That inspired us to push the idea further with a goal of helping people age in place and thrive in their own space. I am thrilled that we have been able to collect years of data for hundreds of people throughout the world, model human behavior from these data, and use the results to accomplish the goal of creating personalized assessment and intervention strategies. CASAS has not only shaped smart home research but influenced policy discussions around ageing, healthcare, and technology ethics. I am excited to see where the field goes next!
Your Journey into Computing, Mentoring and Representation
ACM-W: For a previous blogpost for ACM Women, I noted that careers in Tech do not necessarily follow a straight pipeline, and are often more like “snakes and ladders” (https://women.acm.org/empowering-women-to-return-to-computing-a-game-of-snakes-and-ladders/). Is this your experience too? Could you share what first sparked your interest in computing? Were there any defining “ladders” that helped you along your way?
Diane: I was not initially interested in technology but was studying math to gain a rigorous foundation for a career in law. When the degree required a computer science class, I was hooked! Computing allowed me to combine a desire to create and innovate with an enjoyment of mathematical and logical reasoning.
ACM-W: Yes, we can relate to that! But you’ve mentored many students throughout your career, so you must have witnessed this desire in them too. In your experience, what do you think are the most effective ways to support and retain women and underrepresented groups in computing?
Diane: I have mentored women who, like me, initially never gave much thought to a career in computing. When I collaborated with researchers in neuropsychology and medicine to build a multidisciplinary training program, the program required a foundation in computing. Female students in this program, like me, enjoyed the computing side of the field and several came back for a second degree in computer science. I have observed that many women are quite adept at weaving these disciplines together, and I think such programs introduce them to a computing path that they would not have previously considered. For such scientists, the ability to work on projects that are intellectually stimulating and can impact society provides the impetus to finish the degree and build a strong career in computing.
Thank you for this interview, Dr Cook and congratulations once again!