AI Integration and Risk Identification in Advanced Architectural Design Studios

Abstract

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing architectural practice. However, advanced design studios at the senior and graduate levels still rely on traditional pedagogical approaches of manual ideation, desk critique, and jury defense. This research explores the influence of AI integration on the student design experience in advanced studios and the possible risks it provides for the cultivation of critical thinking and creative agency. We employed a sequential mixed-method design. It consisted of (i) a literature review on AI in higher education, creative cognition, and studio pedagogy; (ii) semi-structured interviews with senior studio instructors; and (iii) a structured risk-assessment survey adapted from ISO 31000:2018 distributed to senior architectural students. Thirty things in three categories, AI Studio Environment, Pedagogical Context, and Design Competencies, were rated on five-point probability and impact scales. The findings show a profile dominated by opportunities, with 27 of the 30 aspects (90%) identified as opportunities and only three elements (equity in subscription cost, AI literacy of instructors, and curricular framework) identified as low-to-moderate dangers. No threats were identified in the Design Competencies cluster. The main possible use of associate AI with definite critical agency, with the studio's fundamental role being retained in the context of AI, but only if the institutional infrastructure is raised to a similar level. The paper offers a three-tiered agenda for transformation for educators and program developers.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence in education, Architectural design studio, AI integration, Pedagogy, Architectural Design Studios, Risk Identification.

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1008225