Artificial Objects
Artificial Objects is a research and design project that uses play to explore how generative artificial intelligence can supercharge the creative process. Although focused on industrial design, the findings can be equally applied to fashion design and architectural design.
The objects within this project were created using various AI models that were trained in 20th century industrial design. Like a perfect student, the AI models quickly became experts in design principles, understanding the world only through furniture and nothing else. An apple is a chair. A banana is a table.
With these very specific conditions in place, we began prompting the AI via text with a long list of musings, generating hundreds of our human ideas into visual iterations. From the nonsensical—chairs made out of origami and sofas made out of jello—to the more serious such as reimagining disabled furniture with considered aesthetics.
From there, a back and forth set off, continuously refining the ideas that had potential until they were perfect.
The final stage is passing these models back to the hands of human engineers who are now tasked with translating these visual sketches into material objects.
What we’ve learned from this process is that the AI behaves essentially like a tool that can help us imagine new ways to bring our ideas to life. But like any tool, it is only as good as the teacher or designer who is working with it. It’s up to you to educate the AI in your own expertise, values, and aesthetics. It’s up to you to imagine possibilities. It’s up to you edit and curate those iterations and it’s definitely up to you to figure out how to use those ideas and bring them into the real world via engineering and design expertise.
To learn more about Artificial Objects visit articialobjects.net
Artificial Objects © 2024 byJOAN Design is attributed under Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0
Artificial Objects is a research and design project that uses play to explore how generative artificial intelligence can supercharge the creative process. Although focused on industrial design, the findings can be equally applied to fashion design and architectural design.
The objects within this project were created using various AI models that were trained in 20th century industrial design. Like a perfect student, the AI models quickly became experts in design principles, understanding the world only through furniture and nothing else. An apple is a chair. A banana is a table.
With these very specific conditions in place, we began prompting the AI via text with a long list of musings, generating hundreds of our human ideas into visual iterations. From the nonsensical—chairs made out of origami and sofas made out of jello—to the more serious such as reimagining disabled furniture with considered aesthetics.
From there, a back and forth set off, continuously refining the ideas that had potential until they were perfect.
The final stage is passing these models back to the hands of human engineers who are now tasked with translating these visual sketches into material objects.
What we’ve learned from this process is that the AI behaves essentially like a tool that can help us imagine new ways to bring our ideas to life. But like any tool, it is only as good as the teacher or designer who is working with it. It’s up to you to educate the AI in your own expertise, values, and aesthetics. It’s up to you to imagine possibilities. It’s up to you edit and curate those iterations and it’s definitely up to you to figure out how to use those ideas and bring them into the real world via engineering and design expertise.
To learn more about Artificial Objects visit articialobjects.net
Artificial Objects © 2024 byJOAN Design is attributed under Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0