Presentation Schedule
The Dual Edges of AI in Design: Roles, Impacts, and Methodological Validity Across Design Practice (100484)
Session Chair: Chih-Yung Aaron Chiu
This presentation will be live-streamed via Zoom (Online Access)
Saturday, 8 November 2025 12:50
Session: Session 2
Room: Live-Stream Room 1
Presentation Type:Live-Stream Presentation
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This study examines the innovation position of Artificial Intelligence (AI) implemented in design practice, investigating both the positive and negative effects, as well as the methodological implications, across the design industry. While AI tools accelerate ideation, automate routine tasks, and generate data-driven variations, they remain fundamentally incapable of replicating the human capacities essential for culturally resonant, ethical, and deeply innovative design. This is a quantitative research study comparing AI-generated works with those of human professionals and analyzing users' preferences. Professionals' creations are often limited by algorithmic constraints, prioritizing pattern replication over true originality and lacking authentic narrative. Furthermore, AI failed to translate empathy, emotions, cultural contexts, and user cues that are essential to meaningful design. Most significantly, unsupervised AI poses ethical blind spots, risking bias amplification, accessibility compromises, and optimization for engagement over human well-being. Our findings demonstrate that the indispensable value of human designers lies in their unique creative intuition for framing wicked problems beyond the confines of datasets. Their capacity for making design decisions that balance business and societal needs, and their deep cultural fluency, which embeds locality, heritage, and emotional resonance into experiences. Consequently, we argue that AI functions most effectively not as a replacement, but as a "co-pilot" that enhances efficiency. This study concludes that human designers are irreplaceable in creating strategic visions, generating empathetic insights, and fostering ethical understanding. At the same time, AI supports execution, empowering humans to lead the creation of meaningful and responsible innovation.
Authors:
Yihui Hua, Arizona State University, United States
Haonan Chen, Columbia University, United States
About the Presenter(s)
Yihui Hua is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at Arizona State University, USA and her research is focus on transdisciplinary design with in industry 4.0.
See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule
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