Human-machine collaboration processes for AI-enabled product design with expert intervention: an example from research vessel design

With the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, professionals in the design field are facing unprecedented transformation. On one hand, AI integration into design can significantly enhance workflow efficiency. On the other hand, AI has profoundly altered the design process, signifying a critical shift in human-machine collaboration. However, no research has yet explored how these changes in the design process impact the final design outcomes, nor how designers leverage their professional expertise to engage with AI during collaborative design processes. This study aims to clarify the respective roles of designers and AI by proposing an AI-enabled product design (AIPD) paradigm grounded in designers’ tacit knowledge. We divide AIPD into four phases: design preparation, large language model training, collaborative design, and knowledge base establishment. Subsequently, the research vessel design was developed based on this paradigm, with the quality of the design evaluated using the fuzzy comprehensive analysis method. The results demonstrate that this human-AI collaborative design process is effective in addressing product form, function, and structural challenges. This research elucidates the direction for human-machine collaboration in the AI context and proposes new pathways for AI application in product design.