When Discourse Stalls: Moving Past Five Semantic Stopsigns about Generative AI in Design Research

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: van der Maden, Willem, van der Burg, Vera, Halperin, Brett A., Jääskeläinen, Petra, Lindley, Joseph, Lomas, Derek, Merritt, Timothy
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author van der Maden, Willem
van der Burg, Vera
Halperin, Brett A.
Jääskeläinen, Petra
Lindley, Joseph
Lomas, Derek
Merritt, Timothy
author_facet van der Maden, Willem
van der Burg, Vera
Halperin, Brett A.
Jääskeläinen, Petra
Lindley, Joseph
Lomas, Derek
Merritt, Timothy
contents This essay examines how Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly transforming design practices and how discourse often falls into over-simplified narratives that impede meaningful research and practical progress. We identify and deconstruct five prevalent "semantic stopsigns" -- reductive framings about GenAI in design that halt deeper inquiry and limit productive engagement. Reflecting upon two expert workshops at ACM conferences and semi-structured interviews with design practitioners, we analyze how these stopsigns manifest in research and practice. Our analysis develops mid-level knowledge that bridges theoretical discourse and practical implementation, helping designers and researchers interrogate common assumptions about GenAI in their own contexts. By recasting these stopsigns into more nuanced frameworks, we provide the design research community with practical approaches for thinking about and working with these emerging technologies.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_08565
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle When Discourse Stalls: Moving Past Five Semantic Stopsigns about Generative AI in Design Research
van der Maden, Willem
van der Burg, Vera
Halperin, Brett A.
Jääskeläinen, Petra
Lindley, Joseph
Lomas, Derek
Merritt, Timothy
Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
This essay examines how Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly transforming design practices and how discourse often falls into over-simplified narratives that impede meaningful research and practical progress. We identify and deconstruct five prevalent "semantic stopsigns" -- reductive framings about GenAI in design that halt deeper inquiry and limit productive engagement. Reflecting upon two expert workshops at ACM conferences and semi-structured interviews with design practitioners, we analyze how these stopsigns manifest in research and practice. Our analysis develops mid-level knowledge that bridges theoretical discourse and practical implementation, helping designers and researchers interrogate common assumptions about GenAI in their own contexts. By recasting these stopsigns into more nuanced frameworks, we provide the design research community with practical approaches for thinking about and working with these emerging technologies.
title When Discourse Stalls: Moving Past Five Semantic Stopsigns about Generative AI in Design Research
topic Computers and Society
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.08565