Participants from across disciplines are invited to join an international online research symposium hosted by the Department of Design and co-organized with the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design at The Ohio State University. The symposium brings together artists, designers, educators, and researchers to examine how AI is reshaping the teaching of art and design and to discuss emerging pedagogical approaches in response to these developments.
Over the past few years, generative AI has acquired an increasingly pervasive presence in digital media, producing a growing number of synthetic images, texts, and sounds. This new medium is often described as contributing to an "AI slop" in which human production appears degraded. At the same time, it is giving rise to new creative practices that are already shaping how art and design outcomes are made and taught.
As AI tools enter educational contexts, students and teachers are navigating shifting workflows, displaced forms of expertise, and new forms of agency. What does it mean to teach art and design in a world where automation is increasingly available? How can artists, designers, and educators work with AI while questioning its limits, biases, and default standards? This symposium aims to better identify and critically examine pedagogical, ethical, and technical issues within a community of art and design practitioners, educators, and researchers.
Presentations address two sub-themes: AI as an Environment (cognitive, semantic, technical) and AI as an Experiment (pedagogical, artistic, conceptual). The symposium consists of four 90‑minute online synchronous panel sessions held on April 15th and 16th, each featuring 2–3 speakers with moderated discussion and Q&A.