AI as a Design Medium
Eric Rodenbeck discusses the role of AI as a design medium in his essay, emphasizing its potential to reshape design thinking and knowledge production. He advocates for treating AI not merely as a tool for efficiency but as a material for inquiry and critique. Through his teaching at Harvard, Rodenbeck encourages students to engage deeply with archives, revealing new meanings rather than simply visualizing data.
- ▪Eric Rodenbeck argues that AI should be treated as a medium for inquiry rather than just a tool for efficiency.
- ▪His course at Harvard focuses on engaging with archives to uncover new sources of meaning.
- ▪Students are encouraged to interrogate AI outputs and iterate on their prompts to explore complexity.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
AI as a Design Medium ESSAY12 mins read time ERIC RODENBECK Rodenbeck is a lecturer in architecture at the Harvard GSD and founder of Stamen Design. HDM DIGITAL PUBLISHED May 4, 2026 While the first article in this series on artificial intelligence (AI) explored how designers may be uniquely positioned to confront the technology’s implications, this second essay examines AI as a design medium—one that can reshape how designers think and produce knowledge. Eric Rodenbeck, a lecturer in architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and founder of Stamen Design, argues that AI is most generative when treated not as a system for producing answers, but as a condition for inquiry.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Harvard Design Magazine.
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