Hi. I'm Patrick Hebron.

I'm a software developer, designer, teacher and author.

I founded and directed the Machine Intelligence Design groups at NVIDIA and Adobe.
I was also the Vice President of Research & Development at Stability AI.

My work focuses on the emerging intersections between machine learning, design tools, programming languages and operating systems. I have also studied computer graphics, aesthetic philosophy, art and film. I come from a family of progressive educators who have greatly influenced my thinking about intelligence and toolmaking.

Recent Talks & Publications

ME, MYSELF, AND AI: Authoring Creativity With AI

Authoring Creativity With AI

An interview with Shervin Khodabandeh and Sam Ransbotham on AI tool development.
Presented by MIT Sloan Management Review's Me, Myself, and AI podcast, 2024.

Artificial Intelligence and the Decoupling of Creation & Comprehension

AI and the Decoupling of Creation & Comprehension

A talk investigating the implications of a new creative force that is not constrained by tradition or historical progress.
Presented at the KRIGA International Symposium, 2022.

Integrating Design and Technical Innovation in AI-First Products

Integrating Design and Technical Innovation in AI-First Products

A talk that explores AI-First product development and the role of design
in shaping emerging technologies.
Presented as the inaugural event for DeepLearning.ai's AI Access series, 2021.

Against Prediction: Designing Uncertain Tools

Against Prediction: Designing Uncertain Tools

An interview with Elvia Wilk for Noema Magazine about Adobe Machine Intelligence Design and the future of artificial intelligence in creative tools.
Published by Noema Magazine, 2020.

Learning to Educate Machines

Learning to Educate Machines

An article investigating the role of education and culture in the creation of intelligence.
Presented at the DAI Conference (Video) and published by DAI Digital, 2020.

A Unified Tool for the Education of Humans and Machines

A Unified Tool for the Education of Humans and Machines

An article investigating how software development tools can better accommodate the experiential nature of both human and machine learners.
Presented at the Google PAIR UX Symposium (Video)
and published by Towards Data Science, 2018.

How Flexible AI Systems Will Lead to Inclusive AI

How Flexible AI Systems Will Lead to Inclusive AI

An interview with Bill Reeve about the democratization of AI.
Published by Accelerate with Google, 2020.

Rethinking Design Tools in the Age of Machine Learning

Rethinking Design Tools in the Age of Machine Learning

An article investigating how machine learning and artificial intelligence will bring about a new generation of design tools that learn from and adapt to the user's way of thinking.
Presented at the O'Reilly Design Conference and published by Google AMI, 2017.

Machine Learning for Designers

Machine Learning for Designers

A monograph that introduces contemporary machine learning systems and provides a conceptual framework to help designers integrate machine learning into their work.
Published by O'Reilly Media, 2016.

Creative Partnerships: Machine Learning and the Future of Design

Creative Partnerships

A webcast exploring how machine learning will transform the next generation of computing interfaces.
Published by O'Reilly Media, 2016.

Machine Learning and Improvisation

Machine Learning & Improvisation

A philosophical exploration of machine learning and concept representation in the human mind.
Presented at Entertaining Science, 2016.

Guiding Principles for Design Tools

Guiding Principles for Design Tools

A series of principles to guide the design of design tools.
Published on Medium, 2016.

Selected References

Found in Translation: Google Translate is a manifestation of Wittgenstein’s theory of language

Found in Translation

An article by Olivia Goldhill on the connection between machine learning and Wittgenstein’s theory of language.
Published by Quartz, 2019.

Embracing artificial intelligence in architecture

Embracing artificial intelligence in architecture

An article by Kathleen M. O'Donnell investigating AI's impact on architectural practice.
Published by American Institute of Architects, 2018.

Teaching Work

Learning Machines

Learning Machines

A course introducing machine learning techniques, their underlying theory and relevance to creative applications.
Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU.
Fall 2015, 2016, 2017.

Rethinking Production Tools

Rethinking Production Tools

A course dedicated to researching and developing new production tools for digital media.
Taught with Rune Madsen.
Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU.
Spring 2017.

Design Tool Studio

Design Tool Studio

A course focused on software-based toolmaking as an artistic practice in its own right.
Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU.
Spring 2015, 2016.

The Art of Graphics Programming

The Art of Graphics Programming

A course on graphics programming techniques and their place in art and film history.
Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU.
Fall 2012, 2014.

Evolution as a Creative Tool

Evolution as a Creative Tool

A course on genetic algorithms and self-organizing systems from the perspectives of software architecture and user-interface design.
Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU.
Fall 2013.

Exploring Ideas with Code

Exploring Ideas with Code

A two-day workshop exploring the use of technology in elementary classrooms.
Art of Teaching Program, Sarah Lawrence College.
Spring 2015, 2016, 2017.

Selected Projects

Neural Filters for Adobe Photoshop

Neural Filters for Adobe Photoshop

Neural Filters is a new workspace inside Photoshop that introduces non-destructive filters powered by artificial intelligence to help you explore creative ideas in seconds.

Think Foil

Foil Design Software

A design and programming environment that aims to extend the creative reach of its user through the assistive capacities of machine learning.

Digitalis & DEcomp

Digitalis & DEcomp

A short film and a 3D modeling tool for composing forced-perspective scenes.

ITP Student Work

ITP Student Work

A collection of projects from my time as a graduate student at NYU/ITP.

Childhood Work

Childhood Work

A sample of my work from ages five to thirteen. Focused primarily on virtual reality.

Selected Writings

The Art of Graphics Programming: Evolution of the Medium

A visual essay about computer graphics, design tools and representation in general.
Presented at Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, Fall 2012.


Foil: A Three-Dimensional Design Sketchbook

A study of digital design tools and a retrospective of my early work on the Foil Design Environment.
Master's Thesis, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, May 2011.


Arrow: Proposal for a Design Tool Incorporating a Genetic Algorithm Mark-up Language

Precursor to work on Foil.
Presented at Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, February 2011.


Arrow: Genetic Algorithms & Self-Organizing Maps in Computer-Aided Design

Early sketches for a design tool incorporating genetic algorithms and self-organizing maps. Precursor to work on Foil.
Presented at Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU, December 2010.


Deus Ex Machina: The Myth of Complete Representation

An investigation of physics, computational models and the limits of photographic representation.
Unpublished, December 2008.


Child's Play: Why Michael Bay's Transformers Is Less Than Meets The Eye

A critical look at the vicarious (dis)pleasures of a toy turned blockbuster.
Published in Film Comment Magazine, January-February 2008.


The Photo-Icon: Artistic Representation in the Cinematic Medium of Digital Effects

A semiological study of digital special effects as an artistic medium.
Undergraduate Thesis, Department of Philosophy, Bard College, May 2006.


Both Sides Now: Bruce Conner's Crossroads & Heide Fasnacht's Explosion

An investigation of the spatial and temporal depiction of explosions in avant-garde cinema and sculpture.
Published in Bard College Journal of the Moving Image, May 2005.


Interview with Heide Fasnacht

An interview with the sculptor Heide Fasnacht.
Published in Bard College Journal of the Moving Image, May 2005.

Selected Films

Digitalis: An Introduction to DEcomp

A steroscopic narrative in forced-perspective. Presented in side-by-side stereo.
An anaglyph stereo version is also available. Created at NYU/ITP. 2010.


Mattes for an Action Film

Action sequence as landscape film.
Shot on 16mm Kodak color negative film at Innisfree Garden, Millbrook, New York. 2005.


Everything Must Be Given Back

Experiments for Peter Hutton's Cinematography class.
Shot on 16mm color negative, b&w negative and b&w reversal film in Tivoli, New York. 2005.


Death Cloud

My very first special effects film.
Made with footage from Jean Luc Godard's "Made in U.S.A." 2004.

Speaking Engagements

Designing Intelligence:
Humans, AI & the Positive Transformation of Our Society 2023

Alibaba U Design Week Keynote Address - Remote

Beyond Comprehension:
AI and the New Age of Creativity, Collaboration & the Cubist Mind 2023

Transformations of the Human (ToftH) Guest Lecture - Remote
Autodesk Research Connections Invited Talk - Remote

Designing AI-Driven Products 2022

Nike Sport + AI Conference Keynote Address - Remote

Artificial Intelligence and the Decoupling of Creation & Comprehension 2022

Korean National Research Institute for the Gifted in Arts (KRIGA) International Symposium - Remote

Driving Research & Development with Design 2021

HAW Hamburg aiXdesign Series - Remote

Integrating Design and Technical Innovation in AI-First Products 2021

Deeplearning.ai AI Access Series - Remote

Adobe's AI-First Approach to Product Vision 2021

Proximity Lab Discussion Series - Remote
with Sarah Kong, Nathan Carr, Wilson Chan & Evan Karatzas

Art Powers Technology 2020

European Union National Institutes for Culture DX/AI Week - Remote
with Clara Blume, Martin Rauchbauer & Tobias Rees

DAI Keynote Address 2020

Designing with Artificial Intelligence Conference - Berlin, Germany (Remote)

The Collision Between Data Science and Design 2019

Forrester CX Conference - San Francisco, CA
with Andrew Hogan

Contemporary Machine Learning Systems 2019

School of Visual Arts, Masters in Interaction Design Lecture Series - New York, NY

Learning to Educate Machines 2019

Berggruen Institute, Transformations of the Human Program - Los Angeles, CA

How Machine Learning Impacts the Products We Design 2018

Adobe MAX Conference - Los Angeles, CA

What is Computational Creativity? 2018

Designing with AI Meetup - New York, NY
with Mathew Ray & Allison Parrish

Designing the Next Wave of Design Tools 2018

Adobe Design Summit - San Francisco, CA

Machine Learning for Designers 2018

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology - Daejeon, Republic of Korea

A Unified Tool for the Education of Humans and Machines 2018

Google PAIR UX Symposium - Zürich, Switzerland

Exploring Ideas and Building Expertise through Machine Learning 2018

American Institute of Architects - Washington, DC

Rethinking Design Tools in the Age of Machine Learning 2017

O'Reilly Artificial Intelligence Conference - New York, NY
O'Reilly Design Conference - San Francisco, CA

The Jazz of Physics, AI and Sculpture 2016

Entertaining Science @ Cornelia Street Cafe - New York, NY
with Stephon Alexander & Saint Clair Cemin

The Future of Design Education 2016

Foo Camp, O'Reilly Media - Sebastopol, CA
with Rune Madsen

Exploring Ideas with Code 2015, 2016, 2017

Art of Teaching Graduate Program, Sarah Lawrence College - Bronxville, NY

Creative Partnerships: Rethinking Design Processes in the Age of Machine Learning 2015

IBM Research - Yorktown Heights, NY

Work in Progress: The Future of Design Tools 2015

Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University - New York, NY

Contact

I'm always interested in hearing about new opportunities, collaborations and lecture invitations.
Please reach out through one of the channels below: