Digital Technologies are disrupting the way in which people live, cascading on society at unprecedented speed. In particular, Artificial Intelligence is evolving and augmenting its capabilities by constantly learning, powered by human produced data and algorithms. This evolution is having two main effects, which in fact are two faces of the same coin: on one side, the introduction of such autonomous, self-adaptive systems into the human environment increases the complexity of the context itself; on the other, we have reached the point that it is impossible to face global problem such as public health, food security, market stability, sustainable energy and ecosystem preservation, that were originated by tools designed to solve past problems, without the computing power of AI. However, to face this complexity it is necessary to apply a comprehensive innovation management mindset: therefore, Design Thinking, with its human-centred approach that shapes innovation starting from people, is proposed as the discipline to navigate this turbulent environment while designing data-driven, intelligent products, services and systems. Due to the success that Design Thinking is obtaining also outside the design community, the first purpose of this work is to assess its diffusion in the Italian context of Innovators, namely companies adopting the methodology for internal projects. Then, having defined the state of the art and the emerging applications of Artificial Intelligence, the second objective of this study is to assess the impact that the introduction of the Digital Technology has on the Design Thinking framework. This presents the interplay from the first point of view, empowering Design Thinking through Digital Technologies. Lastly, findings derived by the two research questions are re-elaborated until the identification of a design opportunity provided by an analysis performed collecting case studies of tools which instead move along the second perspective on the aforementioned relationship: valuing Digital Technologies through Design Thinking. From this solid base, a mapping activity led to the formalization of scenarios to interpret the possible walkable directions generated by the interplay between Artificial intelligence and Design Thinking. The study is concluded with a reflection on the role of designers in managing and, especially, shaping this complexity, and a guiding framework which constitutes an output of this work of research and a starting point for further discussing designer’s responsibility in developing Machine Learning processes.
Le Tecnologie Digitali stanno rivoluzionando il modo in cui le persone conducono la loro vita, riversandosi sulla società con una velocità mai vista prima. In particolare, i sistemi di Intelligenza Artificiale sono in costante evoluzione ed aumentano progressivamente le loro capacità, nutrite dai numerosi dati prodotti ogni giorno dagli esseri umani e dagli algoritmi da essi progettati. Tale evoluzione sta avendo due principali conseguenze, che di fatto non sono altro che due facce della stessa medaglia: da una parte, l’introduzione nel contesto umano di simili sistemi, autonomi ed auto-adattivi, non fa altro che accrescere la complessità dell’ambiente stesso; dall’altra, siamo arrivati al punto che non è più possibile affrontare problemi di natura globale come la salute pubblica, la sicurezza alimentare, la stabilità dei mercati, la produzione di energia sostenibile e la salvaguardia dell’ambiente, tutti problemi originati da strumenti che erano stati a loro volta progettati per risolvere problemi passati, senza il supporto della potenza di elaborazione dei dati dell’Intelligenza Artificiale. Tuttavia, per approcciare tale complessità è necessario adottare una mentalità che costituisca una modalità di gestione dell’innovazione esaustiva: pertanto, il Design Thinking, con il suo approccio centrato sull’uomo che parte dalle persone per dare forma all’innovazione, si pone come la disciplina ideale per navigare in questo ambiente turbolento per la progettazione di prodotti, servizi e sistemi intelligenti e guidati dai dati. Considerando il successo che il Design Thinking sta ottenendo anche al di fuori della comunità del design, la prima finalità di questo lavoro consiste nel valutarne la diffusione nel contesto degli Innovatori italiani, ovvero tra aziende che adottano questa metodologia per progetti sviluppati internamente. Successivamente, dopo aver definito lo stato dell’arte e le applicazioni emergenti dell’Intelligenza Artificiale, il secondo obiettivo del presente studio consiste nel valutare l’impatto dell’introduzione della Tecnologia Digitale sull’essenza del Design Thinking. Questa analisi presenta l’interazione dal primo punto di vista preso in considerazione: potenziare il pensiero progettuale tramite le Tecnologie Digitali. Infine, i risultati ottenuti dallo sviluppo delle due domande di ricerca vengono rielaborati per arrivare all’identificazione di un’opportunità progettuale, ottenuta da un’analisi condotta con la raccolta di casi studio di strumenti che, al contrario, si muovono nella direzione della seconda prospettiva sulla relazione sopra citata: valorizzare le Technologie Digitali attraverso il Design Thinking. Lo studio si conclude con una riflessione sul ruolo del designer nella gestione, ma soprattutto nella modellazione e progettazione di tale complessità. Si propone infine un insieme di linee guida organizzate in un modello che costituiscono un risultato del presente lavoro di ricerca e un punto di partenza per future conversazioni sulla responsabilità del designer nello sviluppo dei processi di Machine Learning.
The Interplay between artificial intelligence and design thinking. A critical investigation of the dichotomous relationship between artificial and human intelligence
Zani, Paola
2019/2020
Abstract
Digital Technologies are disrupting the way in which people live, cascading on society at unprecedented speed. In particular, Artificial Intelligence is evolving and augmenting its capabilities by constantly learning, powered by human produced data and algorithms. This evolution is having two main effects, which in fact are two faces of the same coin: on one side, the introduction of such autonomous, self-adaptive systems into the human environment increases the complexity of the context itself; on the other, we have reached the point that it is impossible to face global problem such as public health, food security, market stability, sustainable energy and ecosystem preservation, that were originated by tools designed to solve past problems, without the computing power of AI. However, to face this complexity it is necessary to apply a comprehensive innovation management mindset: therefore, Design Thinking, with its human-centred approach that shapes innovation starting from people, is proposed as the discipline to navigate this turbulent environment while designing data-driven, intelligent products, services and systems. Due to the success that Design Thinking is obtaining also outside the design community, the first purpose of this work is to assess its diffusion in the Italian context of Innovators, namely companies adopting the methodology for internal projects. Then, having defined the state of the art and the emerging applications of Artificial Intelligence, the second objective of this study is to assess the impact that the introduction of the Digital Technology has on the Design Thinking framework. This presents the interplay from the first point of view, empowering Design Thinking through Digital Technologies. Lastly, findings derived by the two research questions are re-elaborated until the identification of a design opportunity provided by an analysis performed collecting case studies of tools which instead move along the second perspective on the aforementioned relationship: valuing Digital Technologies through Design Thinking. From this solid base, a mapping activity led to the formalization of scenarios to interpret the possible walkable directions generated by the interplay between Artificial intelligence and Design Thinking. The study is concluded with a reflection on the role of designers in managing and, especially, shaping this complexity, and a guiding framework which constitutes an output of this work of research and a starting point for further discussing designer’s responsibility in developing Machine Learning processes.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/169939