Copy of Generative Ecologies: Design Imaginaries with A.I - Exhibition

“Generative Ecologies: Design Imaginaries with AI” is an exhibition and workshop using AI-augmented design to explore the boundaries between artificial, human, and more-than-human intelligences. Generative AI tools provide powerful yet accessible ways to imagine, visualise and share the urgent design interventions we need in order to foster care and enact change on our damaged planet. This proposal offers audiences two ways of engaging with both these tools and with the bold thinking of young designers addressing ecological uncertainties. The free exhibition will feature speculative works created by RMIT design students that imagine vital, planetary interventions and propose radical species re-orientations for more-than-human flourishing. The free workshop will guide participants to engage with AI as a design tool and catalyst for co-creation, exploring how partnerships with technology emphasise the interconnectedness of all life forms. The exhibition will showcase the creative outcomes developed by 45 RMIT design students from MDIT (Masters of Design Technology and Innovation) and the Bachelor of Interior Design. Created over the first half of 2024, these speculative design works explore generative AI tools in the context of living systems to envisage adaptations and transformations of the Earth that may ensure more-than-human flourishing. These works will be installed at RMIT’s city campus, open to the public and displayed via projection and print. The workshop A selection of the skills and techniques used to create the exhibition works will be shared through the hands-on workshop. Facilitated by students and staff from RMIT, the workshop encourages a holistic perspective on design, exploring collaboration with nature, animals, and technological entities. Participants will actively engage in hands-on exercises and discussions, with the workshop held in the exhibition space. Through these immersive experiences, they will gain practical insights into leveraging AI as a tool for generating ecological design imaginaries.