on Toshareproject.it - curated by Bruce Sterling
*Maybe time is on the side of the studio. A lot of once-fancy stuff ends up there.
https://gail.wharton.upenn.edu/gen-ai-studio/the-generative-ai-studio-pedagogy/
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Learning to Direct the AI
As students began to better understand how to work with generative AI, we saw them step into the essential role of manager and art director. To do that, however, they first had to learn how to be successful in that role. Drawing on the observational skills and shared vocabulary developed through the crit process, along with their growing exposure to design principles, students learned to evaluate LLM output along new dimensions and identify where changes were needed. They then began pushing the AI beyond its more banal, generic output and toward interfaces and experiences that were distinctive and effective.
They also became better able to see when a project was making promises its user experience could not yet fulfill. An onboarding flow for an app might have suggested deep personalization, emotional insight, or aesthetic immersion, but the delivered experience didn’t fulfill that promise. Learning to direct the AI means learning to close that gap, aligning the tone, structure, and logic of the product with the experience it intends to provide.
By treating generative AI more like a creative medium, and not just a tool, we saw the student work become more differentiated, even when their projects occupied similar spaces.
Their final projects functioned as effective prototypes that made the value and purpose of their concept clear to others. The design and user experience of their projects moved away from being nearly interchangeable and toward more unique multimedia experiences shaped to reflect and further the goals of each project. We also saw them move well beyond the chat interface. Students’ final projects used speech, vision, robotics, XR environments, comics, and dynamic interfaces to create specific and situated forms of interaction.
Students left with a clearer road map for the next stage of development and implementation, including a stronger understanding of the security and ethical questions that still needed to be addressed. This included an appreciation for the questions that come with using other people’s creative work: whether you have their consent, whether you are giving them credit, and whether and how they can be appropriately compensated.
The Promise of the Studio
Art and design education has leveraged studio-based instruction to cultivate enduring skills for generations. When we treat generative AI as a creative medium rather than a productivity tool, those methods apply directly, equipping students with the skills they need to navigate the jagged edge of generative AI and all the possibilities that come with it…