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Material Design Meets AI
About the project
Material Design meets AI is an interactive playground installation that explores the use of materials, design and art to introduce teachings on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The installation draws on surrounding landscapes of east London and insight gathered from creative workshops delivered at Hackney Quest Youth Centre. The project intends to make AI accessible to the communities underrepresented in AI careers whilst demonstrating the ability of materials to enrich learning experiences.
Material Design is not situated in one specific area of design. It is fluid, experimental, dynamic and constantly challenging the way we see materials, the environment, policy and economics. The installation promotes material literacy education to fosters an understanding of the basics of how we treat material resources and build a society of future industry professionals who are concerned about the way we treat the earth’s resources.
AI is a fast-emerging technology which increasingly impacts most people’s lives. However, many of the people who use AI are excluded from the research and development in the field, in particular women and people of colour are significantly underrepresented. This leads to discrimination and bias in the AI systems produced. This project hopes to open this field to a wider community and demonstrate a new way of teaching AI through art, materials and design.
The earlier stage of the project began as a series of conversations between Ella Bulley, Material Designer and Amy Widdecombe, AI PhD student at University College London UCL. Ella has translated the conversations into a series of creative workshops that were delivered at Hackney Quest Youth centre, introducing the subject of AI to a younger audience as well as the prospects of a career within the technology and design fields. The creative workshops were centred on introducing materiality and design whilst teaching elements if AI, such as coding in the form of patterns and categorisation techniques.
Material Design Meets AI: Tile making workshop, 2021
Material Design Meets AI: Tile making workshop, 2021
Material Design Meets AI: Tile making workshop, 2021
Material Design Meets AI: Tile making workshop, 2021
Material Design Meets AI: Clay modelling workshop, 2021
Material Design Meets AI: Tile making workshop, 2021
About the artist
