By Bryan Ott, Ph.D.

Currently, we all find ourselves standing on the edge of a vast creative landscape looking outwards, only our vision of what we see before us is hazy at best. Standing next to us is our new creative partner, only they aren’t human, but artificial intelligence (AI), and they speak and communicate in a language we are only beginning to understand. The thing is that we need to get fluent fast in order to build and solidify this potential, highly collaborative, fruitful relationship. It is only by embracing this new tool as an asset, and not as a threat, can human creativity drive the future forward, and not the other way around.

On January 31^st, Mahidol University International College’s Fine ad Applied Art Division (FAA) hosted a special talk entitled, “Playing with AI,” led by Prof. Luca Poncellini, Head of Design and Applied Arts, NABA, Italy. Prof Luca demonstrated how NABA design students explore this new creative AI frontier in their coursework, through craft-based projects that require the students to engage AI during all stages of the development process. Human creativity drives the creative process by asking highly focused question of the IA, assessing the answers, refocusing the direction of the conversation, editing out misinterpretation of ideas and critiquing the AI generated output. From thousands of generated images, the student teams isolate areas of interest, and refocus design iterations based on their creative vision.

NABA, ranked among the top 100 Fine Arts Academies worldwide, has established a relationship with MUIC, specifically the Communication Design Program, to offer fast-track enrollment options for MUIC students. If interested, please visit the International Affairs office, for more information and details. You may also visit NABA’s website:

https://www.naba.it/en/media-design-technology-courses