Guru, Partner, or Pencil Sharpener? Understanding Designers' Attitudes Towards Intelligent Creativity Support Tools

Creativity Support Tools (CST) aim to enhance human creativity, but the deeply personal and subjective nature of creativity makes the design of universal support tools challenging. Individuals develop personal approaches to creativity, particularly in the context of commercial design where signature styles and techniques are valuable commodities. AI and Machine Learning (ML) techniques could provide a means of creating 'intelligent' CST which learn and adapt to personal styles of creativity. Identifying what kind of role such tools could play in the design process requires a better understanding of designers' attitudes towards working with AI, and their willingness to include it in their personal creative process. This paper details the results of a survey of professional designers which indicates a positive and pragmatic attitude towards collaborating with AI tools, and a particular opportunity for incorporating them in the research stages of a design project.