AI as Co-Creator of the Future: CLIS-HSG at Design Week St. Gallen 2026

How is artificial intelligence changing creative work? And what role do designers play in a future increasingly shaped by algorithmic tools? These questions were at the centre of a panel held at SQUARE, the University of St. Gallen's learning centre, as part of Design Week St. Gallen 2026.

The event was organised by CLIS-HSG's St. Gallen Transformation Lab in collaboration with Design Week. Dr. Tobias Fehr-Bosshard and Dino Darmonski moderated the conversation with three experts: Prof. Dr. Siegfried Handschuh (Data Science, University of St. Gallen), Prof. Dr. Sabine Seufert (Educational Innovation, University of St. Gallen), and Dr. Stijn Ossevoort (Industrial Design, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts).

The discussion revolved around tensions that are currently preoccupying designers and the creative community: the growing trend toward the authentic and deliberately unpolished as a counterreaction to algorithmic perfection, the question of whether technological efficiency displaces precisely those moments of pause where reflection and creative thinking emerge, and the importance of embodiment and sensory experience for design processes. A recurring theme was the shifting role of designers — away from pure creation, toward orchestrating, curating, and ethical co-thinking in co-creation processes with AI.

The event concluded with an apéro, offering the opportunity to continue the discussions in an informal setting.