Reconfiguring Participatory Design to Resist AI Realism

TL;DR

This paper advocates reconfiguring participatory design to challenge AI Realism, emphasizing democratic values, transparency, and exploration of non-AI solutions to foster human-centered futures.

Contribution

It proposes specific modifications to participatory design to resist AI Realism by emphasizing human labor, democratization, and alternative approaches.

Findings

Reconfiguring PD can generate friction against AI Realism.

Making human labor visible challenges AI narratives.

Exploring non-AI alternatives broadens design possibilities.

Abstract

The growing trend of artificial intelligence (AI) as a solution to social and technical problems reinforces AI Realism -- the belief that AI is an inevitable and natural order. In response, this paper argues that participatory design (PD), with its focus on democratic values and processes, can play a role in questioning and resisting AI Realism. I examine three concerning aspects of AI Realism: the facade of democratization that lacks true empowerment, demands for human adaptability in contrast to AI systems' inflexibility, and the obfuscation of essential human labor enabling the AI system. I propose resisting AI Realism by reconfiguring PD to continue engaging with value-centered visions, increasing its exploration of non-AI alternatives, and making the essential human labor underpinning AI systems visible. I position PD as a means to generate friction against AI Realism and open space for alternative futures centered on human needs and values.