Technology offers unprecedented design opportunities

In the early days (60's), we started by advocating what was then called "automated design." This was comprised of feeding a design problem description into one end of a machine and receiving a "perfect" design solution at the other end. When it was realized that the necessary artificial intelligence techniques were not available yet and wouldn't become available in the foreseeable future, we started talking about "computer aided design." This was the interactive approach, where the digital tools are driven by users, rather than operating independently.

In architecture, we argued about the meaning of the "D" in CAD; is it drafting or design? We also debated about the character of the CAD tools. It was initially believed that they should work as the humans do in order to be effective, approachable, and friendly. Then, some started arguing that, if they were built exclusively in the image of man, they could only be as good as the humans and would never be able to do more.

This brought about the suggestion that we should be letting the machines do what they do best and the humans do what they do best, the two collaborating in a complementary fashion. In other words, if we did not restrict the machines to tasks that humans can already do very well, but allowed them instead, even encouraged them, to extrapolate into virtual worlds beyond the easy grasp of the human mind, the potential would be far beyond a human's creativity. We have started calling this potential "artificial creativity," and we have started practicing it, sometimes consciously and sometimes subconsciously.

So, how can anybody argue that technology (meaning the digital tools) diminishes design, is hard to comprehend. But then we have to remember that, whenever the computer is used for more or less routine tasks, it is the human user that drives it, maybe correctly or incorrectly. Whatever the case, mistakes do not diminish design, they just produce incorrect designs, which can be corrected.

The beauty of CAD is when, at some point, it surpasses expectations and pleasantly surprises the human user that initiated a session in the first place. After the surprise comes the recognition of some qualitative aspects that the user now knows wouldn't even have suspected they were there, if the computer had not led to their discovery. This is going beyond "aiding" in design; it actually enhances, even inspires design. Many believe that this leads to discovery of new forms in a manner that will enable the next movement in design. This is, of course, computer driven cultural evolution at its best.

If it is not quite clear by now, what I am talking about is the kind of digital tools our company tries to develop and disseminate: design enhancing and brainstorming tools. "Diminishing" design is not part of our terminology, but it may be a risk associated with those applications that target productivity as their main reason of existence. For us, discovering the tools that discover design continues to be a huge pleasure.

Chris Yessios, CEO, auto.des.sys, Inc.



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