Enacting Utopias: A Participatory Design Approach to AI

In this paper, we explore what a participatory design (PD) approach to artificial intelligence (AI) could look like coupling foundational PD work on empowerment and learning for local development with the concept of enacting utopias and its focus on cross-sectoral collaboration, expansive learning and transformative agency. We suggest that PD could offer a unique position in between utopias and dystopias of AI, focusing on empowering people and organizations to make informed decisions about AI to pose demands to the introduction of AI in work practices. To demonstrate this approach, we report from a case study where we hosted workshops in collaboration with a Union and 53 union members, to help them develop skills, knowledge and agency related to AI. Based on our case, we argue that PD could play a more prominent role in empowering people to take active part in shaping how AI is introduced into the workplace. The main contributions of this paper include a concrete workshop format based on PD principles to facilitate AI literacy and introducing the concept of enacted utopias as a frame to guide PD efforts regarding AI.