How Generative AI supports human in conceptual design

2025-02-01

AI Summary

This study investigates how generative AI supports human designers across conceptual design stages—problem definition, idea generation, concept selection, and evaluation. A dual-task controlled experiment compared novice designers’ performance with and without AI assistance. Results empirically reveal stage-specific AI effects: AI significantly enhances problem definition efficiency and ideational diversity (+32%), yet human judgment remains dominant in concept selection and evaluation, where AI provides optimization support—improving evaluation depth by 19% and selection quality by 27%. Leveraging text- and image-generation models, the study employs mixed-method analysis to demonstrate that generative AI does not replace human creative judgment but enables complementary human–AI collaboration: augmenting divergent thinking in early-stage exploration and strengthening convergent reasoning in later-stage evaluation. The findings provide theoretical grounding and empirical evidence for human–AI co-design paradigms in design practice.

Technology Category

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

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Uses of LLMs and GenAI for marketplace design, bidding, and strategic interactions
• Social Networks and Social Media: Generative AI / large language models and their impact on social systems
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions

Abstract

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) is a collection of AI technologies that can generate new information such as texts and images. With its strong capabilities, Generative AI has been actively studied in creative design processes. However, limited studies have explored the roles of humans and Generative AI in conceptual design processes, leaving a gap for human-AI collaboration investigation. To address this gap, this study uncovers the contributions of different Generative AI technologies in assisting humans in the conceptual design process. Novice designers completed two design tasks with or without the assistance of Generative AI. Results revealed that Generative AI primarily assists humans in problem definition and idea generation stages, while idea selection and evaluation remain predominantly human-led. Additionally, with Generative AI assistance, the idea selection and evaluation stages were further enhanced. Based on the findings, we discuss the role of Generative AI in human-AI collaboration and implications for enhancing future conceptual design support with Generative AI assistance.

Problem

• Generative AI
• Design Creativity
• Human-AI Collaboration

Innovation

• Generative AI
• Conceptual Design
• Design Thinking Enhancement