ENGS 15.16 Designing with Emerging Technologies

With the rapid rise of Generative AI (“Gen AI”), the production of digital artifacts—text, images, video, 3D models, and code—has expanded dramatically. This course examines how these systems are reshaping design, creativity, and engineering practice. Students ask not only how to use Gen AI effectively, but how to evaluate its capabilities, limitations, and consequences within real design contexts.

The course combines conceptual foundations with hands-on prototyping, emphasizing interpretation, responsibility, and design judgment under uncertainty.Readings and discussions address the core ideas behind Gen AI models and their implications for authorship, labor, bias, trust, and Human–AI interaction. Students will experiment with contemporary AI tools for research, ideation, and making, while developing the critical judgment needed to decide when AI is useful, when it is not, and why.

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Department-Specific Course Categories

Engineering Sciences