boundary objects

Boundary objects are physical, digital or conceptual items that can act as a point of communication or collaboration between types of people who otherwsie may have very different goals, knowledge and backgrounds. The term was first coined to consider the various groups who work around zoological exhibits in a museum, and examples in that context include the physical exhibits and the taxonomic structure used to classify them. As an example in a digital context, archirects and engineers might collaborate around a CAD drawing even though they each understand different aspects of it, and use it for different purposes. In synergistic AI-human collaboration, we might seek to create bondary objects that have meaning for both human and system. For example, in Query-by-Browsing the selected items in the list and SQL query are used differently by AI and human, but are a point of connection between them.