I fed some of my design research into Chat GPT and asked it to compose a rhyming poem. It’s not bad:
In the realm of design, some research took flight,
An interdisciplinary study, both speculative and bright.
Graphic designers’ perceptions, they aimed to unveil,
Through defamiliarising methods, a curious trail.Experimental approaches, actors as proxies,
To address obfuscations, in a designer’s stories.
The making strange, ethnography combined,
With process drama and design thinking entwined.A group of designers, their experiences repurposed,
Theatrical scenarios, from chaos emerged.
Three workshops with actors, re-performing the tales,
As third party interpreters, exploring details.Unveiling perspectives, hidden beneath norms,
Revealing design capital, in uncharted forms.
Challenging hierarchies, power redefined,
A negotiation, between stakeholders and the designer’s mind.The research concluded, transformations displayed,
Problematic negotiations, and how they’re portrayed.
In this scholarly endeavor, the truth came to light,
A dance between designers and stakeholders, an ongoing plight.
Such language play is what ChatGPT appears to be good at. Less so with tackling actual projects, or even student assignments – despite the current moral panics about artificial intelligence.
Indeed, we are really dealing with a langaage model rather than anything approaching ‘intelligence’. It would be good to just address such tech more specifically in relation to what they are; language models, machine learning, automation and so on. AI is too broad and misleading, especially in relation to design.
I’ll leave you with ChatGPT’s attempt at a Brechtian version of the above. I feel it’s somewhat ‘on brand’:
Upon the stage, some research played,
Brechtian approach, in shadows laid.
In graphic design, the tale unfurled,
Of stakeholder relations, in a complex world.Alienation effect, the tale they spun,
Defamiliarizing methods, till clarity begun.
Actors as proxies, exploring the fray,
Designers’ perceptions, through a new display.The creative practice, with ethnography engaged,
Process drama and design thinking, on this stage.
A series of scenarios, from designers’ view,
Actors re-performing, the experiences anew.Distancing the familiar, from what once was known,
Revealing the obscured, as the actors have shown.
Design capital transformed, in Brechtian hue,
Challenging power structures, a fresh breakthrough.In this research, a lesson we find,
Of constant negotiations, in the designer’s mind.
With Brecht as the muse, and research the art,
Illuminating relationships, tearing convention apart.
Communication & Graphic Design Research 