Designing with a Mirror: Human Agency and the Myth of AI Collaboration

The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into design practice has intensified debates surrounding authorship, agency, and ethics. Although AI systems are increasingly embedded in creative workflows, they are often framed as neutral tools or collaborative partners without sufficient attention to their socio-technical construction and the biases embedded in their training data. This paper critically examines the relationship between designers and AI systems through a theoretical and pedagogical lens. Drawing on Flusser’s concept of the apparatus and Floridi’s philosophy of information, it situates contemporary AI as a human-designed, data-driven system that mediates and restructures creative processes rather than functioning as an autonomous subject. The paper argues that clarifying the distinction between perceived agency and experiential subjectivity is essential for understanding accountability in AI-mediated design. In response, it proposes a practice-oriented educational framework aimed at cultivating ethical reflexivity and critical AI literacy among design students and professionals. By articulating a relational and socio-technical perspective on human-AI interaction, the paper contributes to ongoing discussions in design theory and education about responsibility, bias, and the distribution of agency in generative systems.