Domus Academy’s Manifesto about AI
Exploring AI as a cultural force. The manifesto calls for literacy, transparency, and inclusive design practices that prioritize human values.
OUR VISION
Domus Academy, long recognized as an international laboratory of experimentation and a crossroads of cultures, is integrating Artificial Intelligence into its academic programs and institutional activities with a critical, design-driven, and deeply human approach.
In an Era where AI is reshaping the boundaries of creativity, work, and knowledge, our Institution aims to lead this transformation with responsibility and foresight, placing at its core the dialogue between technological innovation, design thinking, and anthropological sensitivity. As per the principles of Radical Design Movement, from which the School comes from, our aim has been to introduce AI from a cultural perspective going beyond the current high volatility of its technological trends.
Our vision is to enhance students’ analytical and creative capabilities, enabling new forms of research, prototyping, and storytelling. Educational projects are exploring the use of AI in design, fashion, communication, and strategy processes, encouraging critical reflection on the role of emerging technologies in contemporary society. Our goal is not simply to train professionals who can use AI, but to shape people who understand its cultural, social, and ethical implications. Out students will be prepared for a future where AI will not just be a tool, but an active counterpart supporting them improve their process and outcome, and enhance decision-making, reshaping their overall professional experience.
Through this concrete vision and academic commitment, we aim to empower a new generation of designers, professionals and faculty to engage critically and creatively with artificial intelligence —understanding not only how it works, but how it can work for good.
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the landscape of design, education, and culture.
At Domus Academy, we approach this transformation with curiosity, responsibility, and care. We understand AI as a design material, a situated partner, and cultural force, something to interrogate, configure, and transform rather than simply apply.
AI is not neutral. It embodies systems of knowledge, biases, and power that must be understood, questioned, and reimagined through design.
We believe that learning to engage with AI is not simply about mastering tools but about cultivating literacy: the ability to read, interpret, and reshape the logics behind AI systems.
AI can enhance processes and connect collective intelligence, yet it must always remain under human judgment, critical control, and ethical responsibility.
Our mission is to nurture a community capable of designing for, within, and around AI systems, ensuring that emergent technologies serve human and societal values, and that the principles of empathy, accountability, and inclusivity guide every act of design.
AI as Context
AI is not an add-on but part of the ecosystem we inhabit. Designers must understand how it operates, where it fails, and how it shapes society. Engaging with AI means cultivating literacy, the ability to read, question, and redesign the systems and logics behind it.
Critical Awareness
We engage with AI through inquiry, not imitation. Critical reflection prevents dependency, de-skilling, and the illusion of neutrality. Awareness turns use into understanding and control into responsibility.
Design as Inquiry
AI is a design material to be explored, questioned, and shaped, not a substitute for creative thought. Every act of design remains a human act of interpretation and sense-making.
Human in Control
AI may accelerate some processes, but designers remain accountable for meaning, direction, and final decisions. Human oversight safeguards integrity, authorship, and ethical coherence.
Ethical Responsibility
All AI-driven actions must respect transparency, fairness, and the dignity of individuals and communities. Designers hold moral responsibility for outcomes, not the machine. Ethical reflection must accompany every stage of design, ensuring that technology aligns with human and ecological values.
Design Accountability
Creative control belongs to the designer, who must also take responsibility for the integrity, impact, and potential errors in the work produced. Using AI does not absolve responsibility but it reinforces the need for responsible authorship.
Creative Authorship
AI can support creativity, but authorship belongs to those who question, contextualize, and transform its outputs. True originality arises from dialogue between critical minds and technological systems.
Transparency and Trust
We commit to clarity in how AI informs design decisions and learning processes, ensuring that its influence is visible, traceable, and accountable. All uses of AI must be explicitly acknowledged, documented, or cited, so that the role of AI is transparent in both the creative process and its outcomes. Trust arises from openness, not automation.
Plurality and Inclusion
AI should amplify multiplicity, cultures, voices, and visions, rather than narrowing them to dominant narratives. Diversity in datasets, teams, and perspectives strengthens the ethical and social quality of design.
Collective Intelligence
AI can connect diverse perspectives and enable cooperation across disciplines. We harness this capacity to foster collaboration, knowledge exchange, and shared responsibility while keeping human intent at the center.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
AI encourages cross-fertilization among design, technology, business, and culture. We promote collaboration that integrates multiple perspectives while maintaining ethical coherence and design depth.
Learning and Mastery
Design education must ensure that students can design both with and without AI, maintaining proficiency in craft, research, and critical thinking. Strong foundations enable responsible experimentation and innovation.
Sustainability of Systems
We recognize the environmental cost of AI infrastructures and advocate for responsible, low-impact, and energy-conscious practices that align technological innovation with ecological care.
Designing Futures
Our mission is to shape futures where technology serves humanity. We design for societies guided by empathy, accountability, inclusivity, and care for the planet.