Originality in the age of AI

GenAI has rapidly become a point of departure in the ideation process from the fact that AI systems are capable of generating novel ideas that may surprise most designers. Yet the generative models used to produce texts, images, videos, or other forms of data, may result in designers producing ideas that lack original thinking. That is, the assumption that originality is manifested through individual, non-AI mediated thought and expression. Moreover, it may be argued that GenAI compromises a designer's creative identity potentially adding to the "depersonalisation" crisis. That is, how digital technology may cause people to feel disconnected or detached from themselves. Such concerns raise the question what is creativity and originality in the age of AI when knowledge production, including creative action becomes increasingly distributed, collaborative and mediated by technology, that is, collaboration between human and machine. But also, such collaboration may bring about widening participation in design, both in education and professional practice as expressed in opinions such as "everything is design" or "everybody is a designer".* The journey of integrating design and AI, then, or the journey to human-machine symbiosis is prompting a rethink of the conception of originality and its relationship to design. Indeed, what makes, or who is a designer in the age of AI? * Already back in the 1960s, designers, such as the Archigram collective were interested in how the consumer could be part of the design process, not a recipient.

GenAI's impact on ideation

While the workshop raises the awareness of the range of ideation tools available to designers viz. words, sketching, modelling and computing, design, as a practice, is inherently intertwined with technological progress. And so designers necessarily are adjusting to and adopting new ways of generating and communicating ideas - the latest being GenAI technologies such as ChatGPT and Midjourney. As a result designers, both in education and professional practice, find that GenAI is influencing the ways they go about ideation. But more than this; the rapid advancement of GenAI programmed to create new "original" content by learning from vast datasets, is having significant transformational affect on both design thinking and practice. Moreover, adoption of GenAI, as a data rich tool, is likely to help quicken the pace of, and to lower the cost of improvement and innovation in the design industry. It is also likely to challenge traditional studio-based teaching and learning transforming design education.

AI tool as agent for change

Designers are increasingly using AI in their role as agents for change to society*. That is, designers, together with AI have the capacity to influence or act in the world of design (largely defined). The human-AI collaboration, or interactive agency is now an everyday activity, from education to professional practice to an extent that text-to-image generators, for example, have become purposeful, goal-directed agents in themselves or, to borrow terminology for sociology, agents of intentional action. The rise of AI opens up the debate to what extent AI has autonomous agency. What seems certain though is that AI agency is impacting the role of the designer progressively shifting their roles from that of primarily producing a material good or service to that of ideator and facilitator addressing human needs and wants with emphasis of what is unique to human agency, notably equitable, sustainable and ethical concerns.* 41% of British architects are using AI in some way, in RIBA AI Report 2024.

Lines of thought

'Taking a line for a walk' - a quote from the artist Paul Klee suggesting moving freely without hindrance and by which the line is described as 'a dot that went for a walk' - a point shifting its position forward. As such, the line is an evocative metaphor for generating and capturing an idea, such as  'on the back of an envelope'. Or, the metaphor of lassoing, that is, capturing an idea like catching an animal by throwing the ring of a lasso over its head. Or, to quote Henri Matisse: 'drawing is putting a line around an idea'. Such sayings underline the dynamic nature of the line. Or, to quote Klee again, 'a drawing is simply a line going for a walk', where the line becomes a symbol for the imaginary lines of projecting an idea. But what about expressions such as 'draw the line' meaning 'to never do something because you think it's wrong'. This connotation seems quite contradictory to Klee's notion of taking a line for a walk. Or, 'walk the line', a prison term which means 'follow the rules, stay out of trouble'. Again the opposite meaning of a line that represents moving freely. A line, then, can be interpreted figuratively or literally. Lines of thought.

The excitement of discovery

When working on a challenging problem, the solution might seemingly arrive out-of-the-blue, in what is often referred to as the “Aha!” moment. This moment of sudden insight is unpredictable, and a subjective experience but often accompanied by strong positive emotions. As such it might amount to the excitement of discovery. Or, in the words of Bertrand Russell, the philosopher and mathematician (1872-1970): 'Nothing in the world is more exciting than a moment of sudden discovery or invention, and many more people are capable of experiencing such moments than is sometimes thought.'.

Learning from reverse engineering

In product design, reverse engineering is to unearth certain components that can be repurposed for different application. Theft occurs in certain cases where the entire set of components that make up a product is appropriated and for which reason patents and copyright were created . More often, however, reverse engineering, both literally and figuratively is a legitimate way to establish what is going on in a specific field, practice or occupation. In these cases, reversed engineering is a form of dependent creation as evidenced in how original and valuable creations were built on the knowledge, experience, and copying of elements of what came before. Indeed, it is how we learn as humans, from an early age - we copy, then extend. That is, there is always some level of copying in accumulating knowledge directed to discovery and learning. Learning from reverse engineering, "reverse ideation" would mean keeping track of one's own ideation process, say, through sketches - what the architect Michael Graves would call "the referential sketch", or through a record of "swiped ideas" or inspirations from the the web. The recorded ideation process could then be reflected upon, and analysed for links and influences and in so doing becoming a learning experience.

Agency of freehand drawing

The arguments for and against drawing, or rather thinking with pen and paper versus with an electronic device, such as a digital tablet have been going on for years. Yet no firm conclusion has been reached either way. Yes, drawing on digital devices, and facilitated by software is generally considered to be easier and faster. And sharing digital work is much faster than sharing paper sketches. Also, improving, deleting, scaling or copying is more convenient on a digital device than on paper. Yet drawing on paper is a grounding experience - the friction of the pencil on paper guided by the hand has a different feel to it compared with using a stylus on a screen assisted by software. But when creative deadlines are tight, paper drawing can be seen as a time-consuming luxury. But, as practitioners of drawing on paper would argue, this is a luxury needed to allow designers to work independently, transparently and honestly in the early stages of designing. That is, the freehand drawing, in contrast to the "black box" of computing, is capable of expressing thoughts and feelings that complete the original quality of the design idea. Although it is for individual designers to decide what tool(s) they find most beneficial for their ideation practice, the aim of the workshop is to raise awareness of ideation through engagement with a range of ideation tools.