DEBATE REFLECTION
(AI)ntroduction
Designers have, for a long time, worked to create machines and technology that would revolutionise the way we do things. Now, the ‘Age of Artificial Intelligence’ is here. Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises a new era of disruption and productivity, which will transform the relationship between people and technology. This is causing anxiety in the design community, sparking a debate asking…
"Will technological advances in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Generative Design replace the role of designers?"
Arguments Presented
Throughout the debate two different perspectives clashed. The arguments for each are shown below. I will explore and reflect on these arguments by answering the following question: Can Artificial Intelligence really think like a designer?
YES, the role of designers will be replaced by AI, because it can:
1. Enhance productivity, cultural inclusion and equality
2. Target Individual Needs
3. Offer new opportunities
4. Consumer Vast amounts of data
5. Make Decisions
6. Rapidly Evolve
NO, the role of designers will not be replaced by AI, because it cannot:
1. Have a human touch
2. Be creative or original
3. Use emotions or instincts
4. Be empathetic
5. Think broadly
Well... what is the role of a designer?
Designers work at the intersection of cultural trends and the economy, often shaping society by developing social meaning alongside physical products (Grant & Fox, 1992). Charles Eames defined design as, “A plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose”. Designers often create plans or specifications that are used to construct objects or systems to implement a variety of activities or processes (Moltzau, 2019). This often leads to the development of prototypes, products or processes.
At each stage of the design process, designers reflect on every decision and interact with the previously explored design space, to make sense of their decisions (Shireen et al, 2017). It is often challenging for designers to interact with a large number of solutions, particularly in the digital age. The increase in computational power and interactive devices has resulted in designers seeking new media to assist in generating novel ideas. Because of this, there is potential for Artificial Intelligence to assist designers, but will it take over their role?
How do designers think?
What does it mean to think like a designer? According to the Interaction Design Foundation (2020), designing often involves researching, empathising with users, ideation, iteration, user testing, and receiving feedback. This process is embodied by the term ‘Design Thinking’. This process has five phases: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, and test. The opposing team stated that for Artificial Intelligence to replace the role of a designer it must master Design Thinking.
While it is true that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can currently only master some of these elements, it is improving every day. In fact, with minor changes to how AI is currently used, it can appear to deeply enact several popular design principles – such as being human-centred, abductive and iterative (Verganti et al., 2020). The following sections will explore how AI is rapidly changing the design process.
Researching and Defining
Unlike a designer, Artificial Intelligence has access to more information than the brain can even comprehend in a lifetime (Fox-Skelly, 2018). The rapid advances in Artificial intelligence allow computers to scan, read through, interpret, and learn quickly from data. This is similar to how a designer researches a problem and tries to understand user’s needs. Consequently, this technology is able to provide insight into the behaviours and needs of people that designers can often overlook.
Empathy and Emotion
Artificial intelligence is claimed to lack emotion and empathy, which are important skills for designers. It was argued that AI is incapable of understanding the way users intuitively think, feel, and interpret designs. While AI has difficulties interpreting human emotions and nuances, that does not mean it cannot be deeply personal (Oh, 2019).
Artificial Intelligence can consider someone’s subliminal choices. For example, Netflix uses an AI-centric operating model that is powered by Big Data. Their software gathers users’ data touch-points, allowing it to create personalised user experiences. These algorithms are often running in the background to provide you a unique experience.
The ability for machines to understand, and not simply analyse, human behaviour is improving every day. Companies such as Hanson Robotics are developing Artificial Intelligence such as Sophia, their most advanced human-like robot. She is currently being used for research as a part of the Loving AI project that seeks to understand how robots can adapt to users’ needs through intra- and inter-personal development (Hanson Robotics, 2020). This has sparked a large interest in showcasing the potential of AI to really become human-like.
Ideation and Iteration
Ideation and iteration are the backbone to design and innovation. Advances in computer software such as the Autodesk Dreamcatcher has revolutionised the industry. Limitations, requirements, materials, costs, geometry and many other details can be entered into the CAD program, which then enables machine learning to output hundreds, if not thousands of ideas (Peart, 2016). There can be problems with this though, as limited data sets can potentially produce un-original, non-innovative, and unsuccessful outputs, as stated by the opposing team. Therefore, the real concern is not with ideation and iteration but with creativity and originality.
Creativity
Verganiti et al. (2020) argues that Artificial intelligence can offer better performance in terms of creativity and rate of innovation when removing limitations on scale, scope and learning. While AI currently struggles with creativity (for example, see the portraits created by AI) the same could be said for designers. It is possible for human designers to also struggle with creativity and originality. Currently, many people critique modern products for being unoriginal and uninspired (see bottom image).
How might this affect society?
Businesses are more widely using technology as it is creating an ever more connected world. The internet of things has resulted in what some believe as the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 (RMIT, 2020). Advances in communication technologies, the number of devices connected to the internet, and data analytics are occurring at a much quicker pace than any other time in history. This is happening alongside the development of smaller computers and self-reporting smart sensors, which can be found in smaller devices.
Machines can now take over mundane tasks, which in turn allows humans to focus on critical thinking, creativity and emotional intelligence (RMIT, 2020). But what if Artificial Intelligence could do this too? And what would happen when a Machine Learning system crosses the threshold where it becomes more cost effective than having humans on a task?
The Foundation for Young Australians estimated that 90% of the workforce will need basic level digital literacy within two to five years and, already, a digital skills gap impacts 54% of organisations globally (RMIT, 2020). There is a possibility that entrepreneurs and businesses could increasingly seek to substitute people for machines in the future (Brynjolfsson & Mitchell, 2017). This transition would affect the economy by boosting productivity, lowering prices, shifting labour demand, and restructuring industries – potentially replacing the role of designers or at least shifting it. Very soon, machines will augment human capabilities and make possible entirely new products, services and design processes.
The Future for Designers
Rapid innovation has already seen the role of designer’s shift. Improvements in CAD programs such as Autodesk Dreamcatcher, web design software such as Squarespace, and virtual assistants such as Adobe’s Sensei have seen designers’ roles broaden. Designers are stepping away from having strict specialisations to having skillsets in product strategy, visual design, and interaction design (Oh, 2019). In future the role of designers may be in the area of systems design, tasked with setting parameters and constraints to guide the behaviour of automated systems.
Final Thoughts
The role of a designer has seen a significant shift in the age of AI, but it is hard to determine whether Artificial Intelligence would ever be capable of taking over every aspect of the role. I believe that AI could change the role of designers sooner than we expect. As Maurice Conti stated in 2016,
“What do you get when you give a design tool a digital nervous system? Computers that improve our ability to think and imagine, and robotic systems that come up with (and build) radical new designs for bridges, cars, drones and much more – all by themselves”.
I believe this is the direction AI is heading towards. Even if AI does not replace designers entirely, the role of a designer may shift from being a creator to a curator.
References
Brynjolfsson, E. & Mitchell, T. (2017). What can machine learning do? Workforce implications. Science, 358 (6370), 1530-1534. DOI: 10.1126/science.aap8062
Fox-Skelly, J. (2018). AI in Industry. Chemisty & Industry, 82 (4). https://doi.org/10.1002/cind.824_7.x
Grant, J & Fox, F. (1992). Understanding the role of the designer in society. Journal of Art & Design Education. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1476-8070.1992.tb00689.x -
Hanson Robotics. (2020). Sophia. Hanson Robotics. https://www.hansonrobotics.com/sophia/
Interaction Design Foundation. (2020). Design Thinking. Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/design-thinking
Moltzau, A. (2019). AI in Physical product Design. Medium. https://medium.com/@alexmoltzau/ai-in-physical-product-design-e67c02a8c2c1
Oh, J. (2019) Yes, AI Will Replace Designers. Medium. https://medium.com/microsoft-design/yes-ai-will-replace-designers-9d90c6e34502#:~:text=AI%20sounds%20intimidating%20%E2%80%94%20a%20lot%20more%20so%20than%20it%20actually%20is.&text=So%20while%20AI%20will%20replace,meet%20ever%2Devolving%20workplace%20demands.
Peart, R. (2016). Automation Threatens to make Graphic Designers Obsolete. Eye on Design. https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/automation-threatens-to-make-graphic-designers-obsolete/
RMIT. (2020). What is Industry 4.0?. RMIT University. https://www.rmit.edu.au/for-business/staff-development-and-training/tailored-training-solutions/c4de/industry-40
Shireen, N., Erhan, H., Woodbury, R. & Wang, I. (2017). Making Sense of Design Space. Communications in Computer and Information Science. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-981-10-5197-5_11
Verganti, R., Vendraminelli, L. & Iansiti, M. (2020). Innovation and Design in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. The Journal of Product Innovation Management, 37 (3), 212 – 226. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12523
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