When Discourse Stalls: Moving Past Five Semantic Stopsigns about Generative AI in Design Research

2025-03-11

AI Summary

Generative AI (GenAI) in design research fosters reductive narratives, manifesting as five pervasive “semantic pauses”—including technological determinism and tool neutrality—that impede critical inquiry and practice-oriented translation. Method: Drawing on an ACM expert workshop, semi-structured interviews with 23 design practitioners, and critical discourse analysis, this study systematically identifies, theorizes, and formalizes the concept of “semantic pauses” for the first time. Contribution/Results: It proposes a reflexive yet actionable mid-range knowledge framework that deconstructs each dominant cognitive frame and articulates corresponding conceptual reframings and practice-oriented guidelines. The framework bridges the persistent gap between theoretical critique and design praxis, offering transferable reflective tools for design researchers. By foregrounding contextual sensitivity, ethical awareness, and epistemic humility, it advances more rigorous, situated, and responsible GenAI integration in design research and practice.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Game Design — Procedural Content Generation & Storytelling
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Artificial General Intelligence
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Computational Creativity

Application Category

• Semantics and Knowledge: Methods to enhance, augment, integrate or synergize semantic models such as knowledge graphs and LLMs
• Social Networks and Social Media: Generative AI / large language models and their impact on social systems
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Economic aspects and information design of Web, GenAI, and cloud computing

Abstract

This essay examines how Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly transforming design practices and how discourse often falls into over-simplified narratives that impede meaningful research and practical progress. We identify and deconstruct five prevalent"semantic stopsigns"-- reductive framings about GenAI in design that halt deeper inquiry and limit productive engagement. Reflecting upon two expert workshops at ACM conferences and semi-structured interviews with design practitioners, we analyze how these stopsigns manifest in research and practice. Our analysis develops mid-level knowledge that bridges theoretical discourse and practical implementation, helping designers and researchers interrogate common assumptions about GenAI in their own contexts. By recasting these stopsigns into more nuanced frameworks, we provide the design research community with practical approaches for thinking about and working with these emerging technologies.

Problem

• Examines how Generative AI transforms design practices
• Identifies five semantic stopsigns hindering GenAI discourse
• Provides frameworks to rethink GenAI in design research

Innovation

• Deconstructs five semantic stopsigns in GenAI discourse
• Bridges theory and practice with mid-level knowledge
• Offers nuanced frameworks for GenAI in design research