Humanizing AI

Humanizing AI

How Industrial Design Students Explore Creativity and Judgment

Professor Yingying Sun uses AI tools, including custom ChatGPT applications, to teach Industrial Design students at UC how to develop judgment, cross-disciplinary understanding and creative problem-solving skills.

At the University of Cincinnati, Industrial Design students are learning that AI is more than a tool for generating images; it can be a partner in developing critical thinking, creativity and design judgment.

Yingying Sun, UC Industrial Design professor, emphasizes a human-centered approach in her classes with the use of AI. "AI can generate a lot of images, but it has no reason or meaning," Sun explained. "It's crucial to hold students accountable and help them iterate with purpose. The reasoning behind their decisions, the judgment behind the judgment, is what cultivates deep understanding and meta-cognition."

Yingying Sun, UC Industrial Design professor, guides students in using AI tools to explore creativity, reasoning, and human-centered design across disciplines. Photo provided.

Sun encourages students to use AI to test ideas, explore creative possibilities and evaluate design choices across multiple disciplines, from engineering to psychology. The process is less about producing a polished final image and more about cultivating sensitivity, understanding, and intentionality in the design process.

Yingying Sun

Sun emphasizes the need to learn about learning. "We can't teach them everything, so they must learn to learn. AI can help, but it can't replace the human insight that guides design decisions."

Customizing AI for Learning

To guide students in exploring future mobility solutions, Sun has developed a customized ChatGPT system tailored to her courses, Strategic Problem Analysis & Navigation (SPAN). Unlike standard AI tools that provide direct answers, her system scaffolds the learning process, prompting students to speculate, evaluate feasibility and prioritize critical thinking.

Customized ChatGPT "Strategic Problem Analysis & Navigation" (SPAN) system. Photo provided.

"The system doesn't just give answers but encourages students to think, speculate and make judgments," she explained. "Every interaction with AI becomes a chance to reflect on whether a concept is believable or meaningful, and how it could impact real-world design."

Sun collaborated with industry experts, including retired Stellantis VP Tim Anness, to refine the system. The human expertise provided by Anness was integrated into the AI, ensuring students interact with credible, domain-specific knowledge while exploring creative possibilities. "This humanizes the technology," Sun said. "The AI becomes a tool for guiding, not replacing, human insight."

Fostering Creativity and Judgment

Sun views AI as a partner, not a replacement, in the creative process. Students are encouraged to generate multiple iterations of ideas, then use critical thinking to select and refine the most meaningful solutions.

Chloe Kornau, Industrial Design Class of 2028 student, adaptive car interior design. Photo provided.

"Some students might generate concepts that are imaginative but need evaluation," Sun said. "The goal is not to produce images quickly, but to cultivate reasoning, sensitivity and intentional design choices. AI helps accelerate iteration, but the student's judgment drives the outcome." By integrating AI thoughtfully, students develop perceptual judgment and design judgment that emerge through project practice, understand human emotions and user needs, and translate abstract ideas into concrete design solutions. It is about a responsible use of AI as a collaborative approach in AI-assisted design.

Self-directed learning is central to Sun's approach. She has spent years developing an online teaching platform that supports students' exploration of AI and cross-disciplinary knowledge. The platform helps them learn independently, interact with AI tools responsibly, and stay current in a rapidly evolving field.

"AI doesn't have opinions," Sun noted. "It can repeat information, but it can't make judgment calls. Students must learn to guide AI with their own reasoning, curiosity and ethical consideration. That's the core of humanizing AI in education."

Through this approach, UC Industrial Design students are discovering how AI can enhance creativity and reasoning without replacing the human judgment and emotional intelligence that define good design.

Sun will be presenting her work in in the Human Computer Interaction International Conference and publishing in the Design Management Journal.

Featured image at top: Rendering of the interior design of a vehicle. Photo provided.

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