Digital detox

The impact of AI systems on individual and societal activities is evoking digital detox, described as commitment to reduce, limit, or exclude the use of digital devices and technology like computers, smartphones, and social media platforms. But in design environments, does reliance on digital technologies hold back creativity? This may, at first, seem contradictory as AI-driven design tools such as Adobe Firefly or Midjourney, have become integrated in everyday design practice. Indeed this convergence of human creativity and technology is redefining traditional design processes not just in terms of productivity but empowering designers to unlock untapped potential, and create once unimaginable designs. Yet over-reliance on AI systems, such as ChatGPT, may result in automation biases, that is, while digital tools can help us answer questions or complete tasks, it is important to continuing to apply critical thinking skills to evaluate chatbot outputs rather than blindly accepting them. Digital detox, then, suggests taking a break from constant connectivity and screen time to reflect on the relationship between human decision-making and technology. But to choose to limit or reduce designer tech time is complicated in modern-day design practice which is hugely dependent on digital tools and materials. However, there are designerly ways to counter the tendency to trust automated technology, or digital authority too much, for example, setting time aside for the time-honoured pencil sketch! 

Ideating in pairs

The workshop setup allows for participants to generate ideas alone, in pairs or small groups (3-4 people - larger groups would become "brainstorming" activity). While designers may prefer to ideate on their own reflecting the tradition of individual creative expression, working solo or in pairs isn't mutually exclusive and switching between the two can be beneficial. Pair work, then, encourages collaboration and provides a platform to initiate, express and pool first thoughts together. From then on, the pair explains, clarifies, amends, and fine-tunes the emerging ideas and may, finally agree on a single idea or arrive at a totally new idea or concept. Moreover, ideating in pairs focuses minds on the design task or theme, sharpens and develops creative thought and organises and communicates the ideas convincingly, both verbally and visually. Ideation in pairs, then, imparts clarity into ideas that might otherwise remain vague. Also, having to listen to, reflect and respond to another's ideas fosters appreciation for diversity and builds respect for design as a discipline.

Prompt engineering and creativity

Designers typically pride themselves on generating their own ideas. But AI models, such as ChatGTP, can help designers generate ideas through prompt engineering, that is, the process of structuring or crafting an instruction in order to produce better outputs (texts or images) from a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model. This may suggest that designers using prompts for idea generation are becoming editors or curators rather than ideators.That is, designers are selecting, refining and promoting the most promising ideas produced by the algorithms. If so, do designers may risk outsourcing their innate spark of creativity to AI models rather than creating the idea itself. Or, is it the case that prompting is simply unlocking a new form of creativity? After all, prompt engineering is a creative activity in that it means experimenting with different phrasing, structures, or contextual elements in the prompt to get the best possible design output from the AI model. This suggests that prompting enhances rather than diminishes human creativity. But even so, as chatbots become more powerful and accessible, designers need to address concerns about authenticity, quality and ethical standards.