Students’ Perceptions of Speculative Design with Generative AI in Creating Futuristic Narratives: An Interdisciplinary Study with Undergraduate Students from Diverse Fields

• Marcelo Soares Loutfi UNIRIO
• Marcelo Tibau UNIRIO
• Paulo J. A. Gimenez UNIRIO
• Sean Wolfgand Matsui Siqueira UNIRIO

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbsi.2025.246596

Resumo

Context: This study explores the integration of speculative design (SD) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in educational and interdisciplinary contexts. The goal is to prepare students to face future technological complexities, emphasizing ethical and social considerations. Problem: The research addresses the need to equip students with critical skills to engage with emerging technologies. Challenges include the usability of GenAI tools, the lack of ethical frameworks for responsible innovation, and the need for creative approaches to envision future scenarios. These challenges have technological, social, and educational dimensions. Solution: A participatory workshop that integrates SD and GenAI to inspire creativity and ethical reflection, enabling participants to collaboratively explore future technological implications. Information Systems Theory: The research draws on Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and speculative realism to analyze the dynamic interactions between human and non-human actors in sociotechnical networks. Method: The research employed a participatory design methodology, conducting a workshop with 17 undergraduate students from diverse fields. A qualitative approach was used to examine data collected through focus groups. The analysis focused on identifying themes related to user experiences and ethical considerations. Summary of Results: Four main themes emerged: engagement with the process, the applicability of GenAI, personal impact and recommendations, and ethical and social reflections. Participants valued SD as a critical tool for analyzing ethical implications and the social effects of speculative technologies. Contributions and Impact on IS: The study offers an innovative framework that combines SD and GenAI, promoting ethical and inclusive educational practices and contributing to more responsible sociotechnical systems.

Palavras-chave: speculative design, Generative AI, Participatory Design, Ethical Innovation, Interdisciplinary Education

Referências

Rosemarie Anderson. 2007. Thematic content analysis (TCA). Descriptive presentation of qualitative data 3 (2007), 1–4.

Laura Barendregt and Nora S Vaage. 2021. Speculative design as thought experiment. She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation 7, 3 (2021), 374–402.

Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology 3, 2 (2006), 77–101.

Jesper Bruun, Mats Lindahl, and Cedric Linder. 2019. Network analysis and qualitative discourse analysis of a classroom group discussion. International journal of research & method in education 42, 3 (2019), 317–339.

Jenny Yun-Chen Chan, Tomohiro Nagashima, and Avery H Closser. 2023. Participatory Design for Cognitive Science: Examples From the Learning Sciences and Human-Computer Interaction. Cognitive Science 47, 10 (2023), e13365.

André Diniz. 2024. Design Thinking com IAs Generativas. Design Culture (2024). [link]

Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby. 2013. Speculative everything: design, fiction, and social dreaming. MIT press.

Christopher Frauenberger. 2019. Entanglement HCI the next wave? ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) 27, 1 (2019), 1–27.

Elisa Giaccardi, Johan Redström, and Iohanna Nicenboim. 2024. The making (s) of more-than-human design: introduction to the special issue on more-than-human design and HCI. , 16 pages.

Joanna Godlewicz-Adamiec and Paweł Piszczatowski. 2024. Expanding Horizons: Some Non-Anthropocentric Views of Agency. An Introduction. Re-Thinking Agency (2024), 9.

Amir Haj-Bolouri, Kieran Conboy, and Shirley Gregor. 2024. Research Perspectives: An Encompassing Framework for Conceptualizing Space in Information Systems: Philosophical Perspectives, Themes, and Concepts. Journal of the Association for Information Systems 25, 2 (2024), 407–441.

Graham Harman. 2018. Object-oriented ontology: A new theory of everything. Penguin UK.

Ana Maria Di Grado Hessel and David de Oliveira Lemes. 2024. Uso da Inteligência Artificial Generativa na Iniciação Científica: um exercício de design especulativo. Tese de Doutorado, PUC-SP (2024). [link]

Sam Hind and Sybille Lammes. 2016. Digital mapping as double-tap: Cartographic modes, calculations and failures. Global Discourse 6, 1-2 (2016), 79–97.

Dirk S Hovorka and Benjamin Mueller. 2025. Speculative foresight: A foray beyond digital transformation. Information Systems Journal 35, 1 (2025), 140–162.

Hong Jiang, Jinlong Gai, Shukuan Zhao, Peggy E Chaudhry, and Sohail S Chaudhry. 2022. Applications and development of artificial intelligence system from the perspective of system science: A bibliometric review. Systems Research and Behavioral Science 39, 3 (2022), 361–378.

Joel Katzav. 2025. Speculative Philosophy of Science vs. Logical Positivism: Preliminary Round. In American Philosophy and the Intellectual Migration: Pragmatism, Logical Empiricism, Phenomenology, Critical Theory, Sander Verhaegh (Ed.). De Gruyter, Berlin.

John M Keller. 1987. Development and use of the ARCS model of instructional design. Journal of instructional development 10, 3 (1987), 2–10.

Bruno Latour. 2007. Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-networktheory. Oup Oxford.

RAY LC and Yuying Tang. 2023. Speculative Design with Generative AI: Applying Stable Diffusion and ChatGPT to imagining climate change futures. In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Digital and Interactive Arts. 1–8.

Xavier Lecocq, Vanessa Warnier, Benoît Demil, and Loic Plé. 2024. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Generative Technologies For Business Model Design with IDEATe Process: A Speculative Viewpoint. Journal of Business Models 12, 1 (2024), 21–35.

A LEMOS. 2007. Comunicação das coisas: Teoria ator-rede e cibercultura. São Paulo: Annablume, 2013. Mídia Locativa e Territórios Informacionais. Curitiba: E-Compós (2007).

Kun Li and John M Keller. 2018. Use of the ARCS model in education: A literature review. Computers & Education 122 (2018), 54–62.

Zijun Lin, Beatrice Villari, Birger Sevaldson, et al. 2021. Towards Speculative Services for an Inclusive Society: Understanding the relationships between systemic-, service-and speculative design. In Proceedings of Relating Systems Thinking and Design (RSD10) 2021 Symposium. 1–8.

Marcelo Soares Loutfi and Sean Wolfgand Matsui Siqueira. 2024. Speculative Design in a Graduate Program in Informatics: Students Perception and Practical Application: A Novel Approach for Supporting Information Systems Education. In Proceedings of the 20th Brazilian Symposium on Information Systems. 1–10.

Yanru Lyu, Tingxuan Hao, and Zhouhengyi Yi. 2023. Design Futures with GAI: Exploring the Potential of Generative AI Tools in Collaborative Speculation. In HCI International 2023 – Late Breaking Papers, Helmut Degen, Stavroula Ntoa, and Abbas Moallem (Eds.). Springer Nature Switzerland, Cham, 149–161. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-48057-7_10

Quentin Meillassoux. 2006. After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency, translated by R. Brassier, London: Continuum. First published in (2006).

Ben Meyerson. 2023. Clearing Up Correlationism: Goldschmidt, Meillassoux, and the Problem of Finitude. Philosophy Today (2023).

Kimberly ANeuendorf. 2018. Content analysis and thematic analysis. In Advanced research methods for applied psychology. Routledge, 211–223.

Thomas Olsson and Kaisa Väänänen. 2021. How does AI challenge design practice? Interactions 28, 4 (2021), 62–64.

Jesper Simonsen and Toni Robertson (Eds.). 2013. Routledge International Handbook of Participatory Design. Routledge.

Nancy Smith. 2024. Present/Future Objects: Creating Material Knowledge in Speculative Design. In Proceedings of the 6th Annual Symposium on HCI Education. 1–8.

Weng Wei, Dmitry V Galkin, and Yue Zixuan. 2024. Cultural lag and visionary challenges: Speculative approach to generative design. . 54 (2024), 21–32.

Yingfei Ye and Duoduo Zhang. 2024. Co-creating pluralistic futures: A systematic literature review on participatory speculative design. (2024).

Lin Zhu, Jiayue Wang, and Jiawei Li. 2024. Exploring the Roles of Artifacts in Speculative Futures: Perspectives in HCI. Systems 12, 6 (2024), 194.