Written by Anja Maier, University of Strathclyde/Picture provided by Prof Ola Isaksson at ICED25
The 25th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED25), the worldwide Design Society’s flagship conference hosted across the globe in a bi-annual rhythm, was this August held at UTD in Dallas, USA. The conference brought together over 400 researchers, practitioners, and educators from around the world to share ideas, present results, and co-create future pathways for engineering design.
Framed by the conference theme “Design is a Team Sport”, presentations and associated Proceedings of the Design Society published with Cambridge University Press placed strong emphasis on the transformative role of human-AI-Teaming and the accelerating impact of digital design technologies. Presentations and discussions across multiple tracks highlighted a move toward AI systems that support not only automation and optimisation, but also co-creation, exploration, and decision support within design teams. Topics ranged from designing for AI-assisted creativity, to governance of autonomous systems, to the redefinition of roles within (digital) design teams.
The photo taken by Prof Ola Isaksson at ICED25
Educational implications were also a prominent thread. As design curricula begin to adapt to the realities – for good or worse – of AI-augmented practice, several sessions focused on the competencies future designers will need, such as systems thinking, digital literacy, and the ability to critically assess AI’s role in shaping design outcomes. This aligns with a broader call for design education to address not only technical skills but also the ontological and epistemological dimensions of working with AI.
ICED25 ultimately reinforced that human-AI teaming is not a trend, but a defining feature of contemporary and future design. Alongside parallel paper presentations in themed tracks and keynotes, Special interest Group workshops provided further opportunities to debate the implications of digital technologies and their impact on people and processes and provided also voices of reason linking to human- and societal responsibility and nature-based sustainability.
Will ICED27 continue such lines of discovery, advancing our understanding of the need to structure, support, and govern these new forms of collaboration, enabling real-time co-design between human and machine agents, underscoring the field’s rapid progress? As digital technologies continue to evolve, the design community should be uniquely positioned to shape their integration in ways that are responsible, inclusive, and innovation-driven – hopefully for humanity and hopefully for nature.
For more information and access to conference proceedings, visit https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-design-society/latest-issue