AI-Generated 3D Environments as Speculative Mediators in More-Than-Human Design: An Exploratory Study

TL;DR

This exploratory study investigates how AI-generated 3D environments can serve as speculative mediators in more-than-human design, fostering reflection and revealing anthropocentric assumptions.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of navigable AI-generated worlds as tools for reflection and provisional treatment in more-than-human design, highlighting their role as mediators.

Findings

Navigation supports reflection-in-action unlike static evaluation

Designers oscillate between viewing outputs as provocations and authoritative representations

Proposes concepts of backtalk and provisionality for understanding AI-mediated design processes

Abstract

More-than-human design challenges anthropocentric assumptions by foregrounding non-human entities as stakeholders, yet designers face an epistemic boundary: they cannot directly access non-human experience. We present an exploratory study examining how generative AI -- specifically a text-to-3D world generation platform producing navigable environments -- may function as a speculative mediator in more-than-human design. Through a qualitative study with five participants from engineering and sustainability backgrounds engaging with AI-generated worlds derived from non-human traces, we investigate how instant exploration -- navigating generated environments within seconds -- shapes reflection, iteration, and provisional treatment of outputs. Our findings suggest that navigating AI-generated environments supports reflection-in-action distinct from evaluating static representations, while designers' epistemic stances oscillate between treating outputs as generative provocations and as authoritative representations. We propose technologically-amplified backtalk and productive provisionality as preliminary lenses for understanding how navigable AI-generated 3D environments can surface anthropocentric assumptions in more-than-human design.