Engawi, Duha and Gere, Charlie and Richards, Daniel (2023) Graphic Design in the Age of Artificial Intelligence : A Speculative Co-design Investigation into the Possibilities and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence on the Field of Graphic Design in Saudi Arabia. PhD thesis, Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts.
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Abstract
The potential impact of artificial intelligence on graphic design has, in recent years, stimulated a range of questions and concerns from design practitioners and academics about the future of AI-driven designs. This impact has prompted researchers, academics and practitioners alike to rethink the new implication of AI on the role of the graphic designer in this progression. It has also led to consideration of a plethora of issues and challenges around academia and practice, addressing questions associated with the definition of creativity, cultural acceptance, and ethical issues, besides possibilities that AI can imply in having autonomous AI-driven designs. In this research, I investigate the impact of AI from the graphic designers' perspective measuring the impact on their roles as designers in the design process, including an assessment of how to use AI as a self-governed system to generate visual designs autonomously rather than having AI as an application tool. This investigation will propose a new literature of theory and practice into the process of designing, particularly exploring and speculating upon new opportunities associated with combining data and algorithms with graphic design, in practice as well as in education. Co-design activities and semi-structured interviews were used in this research to initiate speculative provocative discussions and debates. In addition, this thesis presents the ADI card toolkit, a speculative design toolkit designed to help initiate collaboration in brainstorming and generate solutions to these challenges by using the gameplay approach. The ADI card toolkit was tested as part of conducting the research in Saudi Arabia, a country undergoing a transformation in terms of employing the 4th industrial revolution of technology and innovation towards building their infrastructure, economy, and quality of life under the government’s Vision 2030. The findings suggest many actions to consider when using AI in education and practice one of which is equipping graphic designers with knowledge, skills and qualifications to be furtherly open and aware of the broad spectrum of AI potentials which allows for proactive collaboration as a self-driven system with graphic designers. The research also suggests using gameplay as an approach when introducing AI tools in academia which can aid in exploring opportunities to alternate the human–machine entanglements and enable designer and academics alike to explore self-generated designs and alternative futures in this field.