KV7012 - AI as a Design Material

You will learn through a combination of weekly lectures, hands-on workshops, and independent study. Lectures introduce the theory and contemporary thinking behind a specific modality, while workshops offer structured opportunities to apply these ideas through practical activities and peer discussion. This formative feedback will help you refine your ideas, approach and thinking, providing opportunities for reflection. Throughout the module, you will develop a weekly evidence log where you will present engagement with that modality, supporting a critical understanding of AI as a Design Material.

This will inform a final presentation where you will present an artefact you created as part of your engagement with the module, discussing the applications to AI design. This will demonstrate your application of theory to a practical example. The learning approach is active, reflective, and designed to build confidence and independence in engaging with AI design materialities. Feedback is integrated in the workshop sessions to ensure clarity, confidence, and personalised development.

You will be supported by lecturers during the timetabled sessions when you will receive feedback on your work. You will also be able to communicate with the teaching team via email. The University’s eLearning Portal offers remote access to all lecture and seminar materials to reinforce your learning. In addition, the University Library offers support for all students through the provision of digital reading lists.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• MLO1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of AI technologies as design materials across multiple modalities
• MLO2 Demonstrate critical understanding of how different material practices and disciplinary approaches inform human-AI interaction design

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• MLO3 Translate material design practices in their application to AI-enabled interactions, demonstrating practical engagement with diverse modalities
• MLO4 Communicate design insights effectively through artefacts and presentations that synthesise theoretical frameworks with practical AI design applications


Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

• MLO5 Reflect critically on the implications of AI materiality for human-machine interaction, considering social, cultural, and ethical dimensions of AI design practices

This module has one summative assessment with two components to be submitted simultaneously:

Evidence Record (50%) A comprehensive portfolio documenting your engagement with diverse AI material practices explored throughout the module. (ML01, ML02, ML03, ML05)

Individual Presentation (15 minutes) (50%) A focused presentation synthesising your material practice investigations and design insights. (ML01, ML02, ML04, ML05).

Programme (Level) Learning Outcomes that this module contributes to:


This Level 7 Module addresses the following PLOs as listed in the relevant programme specifications:

K&U 2, 3
IPSA 2, 3
PVA 1, 2, 4

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Design happens across a range of physical and digital modalities (or forms), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) introduces a new design ‘material’ for us to grapple with as we consider human/machine interaction. At the core of this module is a practical dialogue with materials, be it words and typography to resistant materials, to understand how different knowledges are produced through these interactional encounters. As we consider this in dialogue with the different modalities of AI, from forms of natural language processing (in particular language models), computer vision, recommendation algorithms and forms of generative AI, we will consider how AI as a design material has the potential to reimagine our interactions with machines.

This module introduces students to different approaches to design, both in theory and in practice, with an emphasis on developing practical skills in our state-of-the-art workshop facilities and labs. At the cutting edge of contemporary inter-disciplinary work around AI and Design, technology enhanced learning is woven directly through the module, with students learning in a research-rich environment, being taught by academics who work and publish extensively in Design and HCI.

As a range of sectors are eager to integrate AI into their products and services, employers are looking for people who understand how to utilise AI capabilities effectively. Through engaging in a wide range of different design practices and thinking practically about how these apply in an increasingly AI enabled environment, students will be uniquely well positioned to consider how AI can be utilised as a design material – giving students a distinct value proposition to employers across technology, design, healthcare, and the public sector.