10 Principles For Design In The Age Of AI

Beyond the two-dimensional focus on graphics and the three-dimensional focus on products, we're now in an era where designers are increasingly focusing on time and space, guided by technological advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and smart environments. While great thinkers like Dieter Rams and George Nelson offered their own design principles in past eras, industrial designer Yves Béhar points out that there are no comparable manifestos or guidelines for designers working with AI, robotics, and connected technology today. Last week, in a talk delivered at the inaugural A/D/O/ Design Festival in Brooklyn, Béhar presented his vision for what those guidelines should look like--in the form of 10 principles for design in the age of AI. What problem are you trying to solve with AI? Considering the multitude of "smart" products that are actually quite stupid, it's a question worth asking. "At CES there was a lot of mundane automation that is more part of what I would call gadgetry--versus automation that truly improves people's lives or delivers considerable amounts of service or value," Béhar says.