Profile

Maggie McGrath is a student on the DPhil in Information, Communication & the Social Sciences.

My research focuses on AI and the design process. It emerged from experience as a practicing designer, when I began to question the acceleration of identical, global design in everything from bulbous skyscrapers to coffee shop interiors and apparel trends. To understand the agents furthering aesthetic monoculture, I study how everyday AI (such as Google Image) is used in ideation.

Using architecture as a case study, I look at the relationships between the design of the AI systems themselves, the practice of creative ideation, and the final outcome of the architectural process: buildings. I aim to understand whose agency and values are ultimately legitimized via buildings through the intersection and inflection of AI upon the design process.

I hold a Master of Arts in History of Design from the Royal College of Art and Victoria & Albert Museum as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Michigan.

Research Interests

Design process, artificial intelligence, creative industries, material and visual culture, design history, design futures, architecture

Research

Current projects

  • AI Yesterday

    Participants: Margaret McGrath

    AI Yesterday is a digital zine that challenges dominant narratives about AI’s potential futures. Through experimental, freeform participation, the project embraces voices and outputs that academic writing and journalism often exclude.