Relearning to See

Basic Design Pedagogy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

The introduction of artificial intelligence is profoundly reshaping the ways in which visual design is practised, taught, and learned. While much of the contemporary debate focuses on the technological, operational, and occupational aspects of this transformation, less attention is devoted to its educational implications. Building on this premise, the paper examines the phenomenon from a historical and pedagogical perspective, taking as its point of reference the tradition of basic design pedagogy developed within Modernism and its subsequent developments. Through the analysis of three historically established categories – studio, brief, and materiality – the paper explores possible correspondences with the forms of interaction characteristic of contemporary artificial intelligence models. The three categories are examined through the work of key figures in visual design pedagogy and adopted as perspectives from which to observe the ways in which visual design has historically constructed and transmitted its disciplinary knowledge. Rather than establishing direct equivalences between historical pedagogy and generative systems, the paper aims to show how conceptual structures developed within the educational tradition of visual design can provide useful tools for critically understanding the transformations currently taking place.