AI in Design

I’m Trevor, I’m an Illustrator and animator based in London. I’m studying illustration and Visual Media and am interested in the field of animation and all that it has to offer. 
I’m currently working with a refugee charity to create a 5-minute animation based around an oral recording of a refugee’s experience and have been working on some collaborative projects with other DPS students.
 
Through attending the lectures on technology practice + space – I was able to find something that I find intriguing and sparks some interest in the subject of what parts technology plays in the design industry that you might not think about; this being Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence and how they have such influence over our everyday life, as well as the big part they’ll play in our future.
Looking at aspects in technology and how they have taken over industries with automation and the growing result of AI leaves the question of what parts AI will play within the design industry and our own practices.
Will AI take over, where people would be able to go onto a website type in some specification for a designed logo they want. Then an AI will use this information to create a logo, eliminating the need for designers.
But also, these notions that I’ve specified feel very distant like it’ll be sometime before the robots take over – even today designers have the help of AI and algorithms in their work, with design tools, social media, and a lot of everyday life. For example, when you’re in a design software like Illustrator or InDesign, there are AI coded in to help selecting a colour, typeface etc. With AI in its infancy, we need to start addressing the ethics and morals of AI and algorithms in the industry.
 
In the Google AI framework (Google, no date), they have laid out some principles stating that that they would like to use AI to help solve important problems and help people in their daily lives, furthermore trying to uphold scientific excellence, and making sure AI isn’t used for morally corrupt reasons.
This framework is a beginning to help make sure that we stay fair and use Artificial intelligence to help further our work and everyday lives - also that some areas AI shouldn’t be pursued where it would take over industries and eliminate work.
This is a good step, as it allows people to feel at ease; making sure that people have an understanding that the industry won’t be monopolized by the threat of AI and Algorithms but instead that they will help the world and industries flourish and be the best they can be as well as to help and assist people in working, planning, navigating, and other day-to-day life activities. 
 
Even some governments like Australia (AI ethics principles, no date) have put in some ethical guidelines for people and companies to follow when creating AI, so they can help reduce a risk of negative impact, and that the creation of AI should be to create something that benefits people and make the world a fairer place.
Having a government starting to address this is quite interesting, as it’s a steppingstone for other countries to consider the possibilities of AI and making sure it doesn’t become a threat and a tool for misinformation, or segregation. The capabilities of AI are endless, but this is a key point in history to scrutinise the capabilities of AI so then we will be better equipped to deal with the impact that it’ll have on the future of industries and people lives.

When creating Artificial intelligence, it’s important to address how algorithms can impact society, for example algorithms not making it easy for emerging designers and artists.
 
Making sure that we have considered the ethics of AI, there are so many ways it can evolve letting the imagination run wild, but the future of AI shouldn’t be to dominate the human race but instead to help make everyone life a little bit easier. 

Even in its infancy AI Is a dangerous tool that can be a reckoning or a gift but right now is the time to choose and make that decision while we have time to make that decision and before it does any more damage than it already has.
This damage I refer to being misinformation, AI created images, videos, music, design, art etc.
In an article written by Anna Cafolla (2017), she talks about a study by researchers at the Rutgers university’s art and artificial intelligence laboratory. They were able to teach an AI how to be creative by feeding it thousands of images and allowed it to grow its own sense of style. They then used the work that the AI created and showcased them along with human artist work.
When concluding the study, it appeared that most people weren’t able to distinguish from the humans to the AI work, and some most of the participants preferred the AI artwork more.
 
There needs to be more discussion around these subjects such as fake news, as the AI bots that are responsible for sharing and creating false information need to be stopped. Although not all AI is bad, like using AI to predict who will share and spread that fake news.
 
An article written by the University of Sheffield (University of Sheffield, 2020) uses an AI and algorithms to examine a couple of thousand twitter accounts and over 1 million tweets so then it can properly identify and predict who is most likely to spread false information through the platform.
Being able to predict information like this, is amazing as it gives the platform another way to tackle and stop the spread of fake news using different means that people might not consider. Having this kind of growth will allows us to consider more possibilities and allow us to think of new ways to tackle new ways of making sure 


Through attending this session and then further researching the subject I have been able to reflect on the information and conclude that AI and algorithms in the industry are important to help maintain a lot of systems currently and the growth in which AI is developing is amazing and wonderful but also quite scary.
This research has led me to believe the future is what we make of it. We need to make sure to take control and think of all the contingencies now so then there won’t be any types of problems or issue that’ll occur in the future. Furthermore, allowing the use of AI instead of taking over helping to improve our ways of life, and to make sure that the world is a better place for tomorrow.
 
 
 
 
Google (no date.) Artificial Intelligence at Google: Our Principles. Available at: https://ai.google/principles/ (Accessed:29 March 2021).
 
University of Sheffield (2020) AI can predict Twitter users likely to spread disinformation before they do it. Available at: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/ai-can-predict-twitter-users-likely-spread-disinformation-they-do-it (Accessed: 30 March 2021).
 
Australian Government (no date.) AI Ethics Principles. Available at: https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/building-australias-artificial-intelligence-capability/ai-ethics-framework/ai-ethics-principles(Accessed:29 March 2021).
 
Caffolla, A. (2017) People chose AI-made artwork over actual Art Basel pieces. Available at: https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/36940/1/people-chose-ai-made-artwork-over-actual-art-basel-pieces (Accessed: 1 April 2021).
 
Basu, R. (2019) Algorithms Are a Designer’s New BFF – Here’s Proof. Available at: https://xd.adobe.com/ideas/principles/emerging-technology/automation-ai-wont-replace-designers/ (Accessed: 3 April 2021).
 
Walch, K. (2019) Ethical concerns of AI. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2020/12/29/ethical-concerns-of-ai/  (Accessed: 5 April 2021).