Imagine designing a ballroom gown with algae to reduce carbon emissions. Or a machine learning model that lets you sing in any octave or language but uses the vocal data of other singers.
The d.school’s emerging technology portfolio invites Stanford students and the public to prototype across these new design mediums, and learn how to contend with the implications on diverse communities and the natural world.
Given their prominence and impact on our current world, the d.school has been exploring the design of emerging technologies, and their implications for society and the natural world as they become more ubiquitous.
Our emerging tech portfolio is focused on three key goals:
- Support Understanding: Guiding people beyond fear or seeing emerging tech as a panacea, and instead helping them understand how emerging technologies work and show up in the world.
- Root in Values: Identifying where/how emerging technologies present ethical dilemmas, and helping designers root their work in values and implications, rather than react to catastrophes or harm later (or not at all).
- Experimentation and Making: Encouraging people to try out these technologies and the mechanisms behind them in playful contexts (no coding degree required) for a range of motivations (to creatively express themselves, address issues in their communities and build a better world).
We hope to offer an accessible approach that allows people to play and create to learn, regardless of technical background.
Here are just a few examples of what we’ve been up to:
- Developing and teaching classes, like Tinkering with Emerging Tech, Design of Data, Designing with Machine Learning and View from the Future
- Releasing a creation kit called I Love Algorithms
- Designing a magazine called rep| that introduces readers (especially K12 audiences) to emerging technologies like voice bots and gene editing
- Writing articles about why understanding emerging tech matters
We’ll be highlighting specific activities and insights from these resources and experiences, which were generated through collaboration with Stanford students, K12 students and teachers, scientists and researchers, and other communities. We hope you’ll join the conversation!
Credits
Ariam Mogos