Resisting AI: How AI impacts designers and developers, and the need for a collective response

The dominant narrative on AI is that it will inevitably transform our industry. The only response is to get on board before we get left behind. But the tech industry's push towards AI ignores the extensive harms of AI and automation, historically and in the present, and important stories of mass resistance by workers.

This session is about how AI impacts us as designers and developers. We'll have an open discussion about the concerns we share around AI, and I'll present several ways to think about AI in contrast to Silicon Valley narratives. Going beyond the well-known criticisms of LLMs such as misinformation, IP theft, and environmental costs, we'll talk about how AI specifically impacts creative professionals in terms of the quality of our creative products, our personal development, and our working conditions.

Drawing on recent books such as Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant and Resisting AI by Dan McQuillan, we'll also cover examples of popular resistance to workplace automation, including the often-misunderstood Luddites—serving as inspiration for us to work together, today, for a better future at work.