Seoul Design
International Forum
서울디자인국제포럼

[Chair]

Welcome everyone. Today's session topic is 'Design for the Future.' The presentations we've heard from our speakers have been very insightful, covering various aspects that affect both our current lives and future existence.

In this panel discussion, we would like to discuss with our session speakers and panelists how various digital innovation technologies, including artificial intelligence, are impacting our public services and product design. Furthermore, we'd like to exchange views on how these changes will guide urban life and our daily existence.

Specific Examples of Seoul's Public Service Design

[Chair]

First, I'd like to ask Professor Lee Jung-hyun a question. Although I've lived in Seoul for a long time, I'm not very familiar with the specific examples of public service design being implemented by Seoul City. While we experience these services in our daily lives, could you briefly introduce some representative examples?

Among the various ongoing projects in the internalization of service design, social problem-solving design is representative. Additionally, through 'Design Governance,' projects are being pursued where citizens directly participate in identifying and solving problems.

Like Finland's Oodi Library, we should pursue urban happiness, but currently, our country's happiness index ranks 33rd among 38 OECD countries. In contrast to Finland's first place, our citizens' happiness still has much room for improvement. In this situation, I expect that through the Fun Design proposed by the mayor, service design will become more sophisticated and internalized, providing an opportunity for effective integration into all citizen policies.

The Impact of Digital Transformation on Public Service Design Process

[Chair]

Today's keynote speech was about 'Smart Living through Design,' and I think we're seeing an increasing number of cases where designers are shaping public services and leading digital transformation.

I understand that service design is a methodology that closely observes the lives of customers or users, deriving insights and developing concepts from the user's perspective. Particularly in Korea, the digitalization of public services is rapidly progressing in various fields, and this phenomenon is expected to accelerate even more in the future.

What I'd like to ask Professor Birgit Mager is how this digital transformation affects the public service design process itself.

[Birgit Mager]

Digitalization presents a great opportunity to use service design in transforming analog services into truly valuable solutions for citizens. While governments can engage interaction design agencies to convert services into digital formats—and these agencies may do excellent work—the real value comes from taking a service design approach that questions whether existing analog services are actually useful and citizen-focused.

Digitalization allows us to reassess how government interacts with citizens, bundle services in innovative ways, and eliminate those that are no longer relevant, making this a true transformation rather than mere digitization.

However, we must remain mindful of the digital divide. Many people still lack access to digital devices due to disparities in wealth and education. With a significant population that didn't grow up in the digital world—a demographic that will remain with us for decades—we must keep this divide at the forefront when designing services for government and other sectors.

Digital Transformation Phenomena in Education

[Chair]

Professor Jeong-Youn Lee, since you're currently at school, could you tell us about the phenomena occurring in education related to digital transformation?

[Jeong-Youn Lee]

As digitalization and AI implementation accelerate in the school environment, we're seeing a shift from the term 'digital divide' to a new concept called 'AI divide'. This manifests in the gap between students who can effectively utilize AI and those who cannot, as well as in the quality difference between outputs from students who can subscribe to premium AI services versus those who only use free services.

In this context, concerns are being raised about education methods that solely focus on outputs. Now, conceptual understanding and problem analysis skills are becoming increasingly important, while digital transformation is changing the overall educational culture.

Consequently, we are discussing the need to redefine the role of schools from mere knowledge transmission institutions to ones that provide value curation. For sustainable development, the role of designers must also be reconsidered, moving beyond simply creating outputs to examining the more fundamental values and roles of design.

Approaches Future Designers Should Take in a Changing Environment

[Chair]

I found Professor Jeffrey Koh's presentation on the expanded role of design and technology's impact on future environmental design very engaging. What particularly resonated with me from the end of his presentation was the point that we must begin by asking the question, 'Is design truly necessary?' The message that we should start with a fundamental reflection on necessity, rather than designing unconditionally, really struck a chord.

Related to this, I have one question. Today's designers live in an era where they must design new systems and user experiences beyond physical objects and visual interfaces. For instance, when designing AI services, they deal with intangible elements such as systems, experiences, and services. Many emerging designers and students have joined us at this forum today, and I would like to ask your opinion on what approach future designers should take in their practice within this changing environment.

[Jeffrey Koh]

While artificial intelligence has existed since the 1960s, with concepts like multi-agent systems being developed by MIT professors decades ago, today's primary mode of AI interaction is conversational. This is particularly interesting given the current trend in universities worldwide - including many technical institutions - to defund humanities, literature, and philosophy in favor of technology programs. However, I've observed that the most skilled users of conversational AI are often writers, copywriters, and others who have mastered the art of communication. Based on this, I believe that being a good conversationalist will be crucial for effectively using complex AI systems in the future.

There are important considerations to keep in mind, though. We face a significant risk of deskilling ourselves through over-reliance on tools like generative AI platforms. To address this, I recommend that both students and professionals follow certain principles when interacting with AI systems.

The fundamental principle I emphasize to my students at the Singapore Institute of Technology is "human-first." While AI collaboration and refinement are valuable, it's essential to attempt tasks independently before turning to AI assistance. This approach allows you to compare results, synthesize ideas, and work collaboratively with the AI.

I propose viewing AI not merely as a tool but as a partner. The best partners in our lives don't just help us - they challenge us to improve. By treating AI as a collaborative partner rather than just a utility, we can maximize its potential and use it more effectively. This shift in perspective from AI-as-tool to AI-as-partner can lead to more productive and meaningful interactions with these systems.

Considerations for Designers Creating AI-Based Products

[Chair]

I have a question for Senior Sepcialist Kaya Kim. Through today's presentation, we gained insight into how large corporations view the role of designers. Currently, AI is being widely utilized, and companies are actively encouraging its adoption.

What I'm particularly noting is that, like other innovative technologies, AI has already become deeply embedded in daily life before relevant regulations were established. Even now, the standardization and regulatory framework for AI remains insufficient.

In this environment, what aspects should designers consider when trying to pursue innovation while maintaining ethical design principles in AI-based products? Could you please provide some guidelines or advice for the design decision-making process?

[Kaya Kim]

Thank you for the excellent question. When I attended the NVIDIA conference in San Francisco this March, this topic was also discussed as a key issue. I'd like to highlight some particularly important points regarding the ethical aspects of AI.

There are several major challenges related to the complexity of current AI systems:

First, there's the opacity of AI decision-making processes. For example, GPT uses approximately 25,000 GPUs, and with such a complex system, it's difficult to determine exactly why it provides certain answers or recommendations.

Second, there's the hallucination problem in AI. It can convincingly present information that doesn't exist, or reflect certain cultural biases. As a Google designer at COEX recently expressed it, when AI is trained on 'traumatized data', that bias inevitably gets reflected.

In this context, creating a completely neutral AI is realistically challenging. Since humans produce the data itself, some form of bias is inevitable. Moreover, it's questionable whether an AI stripped of all cultural biases would actually play a meaningful role in society.

Currently, with no international standards for AI, there's ongoing negotiation between groups pushing for stronger regulations and interest groups seeking deregulation. In this situation, a practical approach for designers might be to implement something similar to 'food origin labeling'.

That is, clearly indicating information about AI systems - including the developer, development purpose, characteristics of used data, and potential biases - allowing users to make informed decisions about their use might be the most practical solution at present.

Seoul's Transformation from an Outsider's Perspective

[Chair]

I have a final question for Professor Mager Mager. You mentioned you're visiting Seoul for the Service Design Society conference.

Korea is a country that shows very dynamic changes. We're known for quickly accepting and implementing new things. Comparing Seoul from your visit 12 years ago to now, what changes have been most impressive to you? We'd appreciate hearing about Seoul's transformation from an outsider's perspective.

[Birgit Mager]

I've noticed significant changes in Seoul's accessibility since 2013. 

Technology has played a crucial role in this transformation. With apps like Uber for taxis and various navigation tools, getting around is much more straightforward. There's also been a notable improvement in English communication - people seem much more comfortable conversing in English, which makes interaction significantly easier.

The city's development is particularly striking. What I find most impressive is how Seoul manages to harmoniously blend the old and new. It's fascinating to see that while investing in stunning modern architecture, there's also a conscious effort to preserve and even reconstruct buildings in traditional styles. This appreciation for heritage and tradition alongside modern development is quite remarkable.

Seoul has evolved into a truly engaging metropolis - it's walkable, friendly, and vibrant with numerous art and design activities. The city exudes energy while maintaining its cultural identity. It's been an absolute pleasure to experience this transformation firsthand.

[Chair]

Thank you, Professor Mager, for your insightful remarks. I also deeply appreciate all the panelists for sharing their profound perspectives. We will now conclude Session 2. Thank you very much.