For her “AI-Aided Color Play” class project, Rina Novaj created a visual and brand identity for a perfume brand using ChatGPT’s Dall-E and Adobe Firefly.
F E A T U R E
A Powerful Design Partner
By Joann Plockova
Across the School of Architecture and Design, students are learning to use artificial intelligence through a hands-on, real-world approach.
When Woohee Byun (M.A. ’25) arrived at the School of Architecture and Design, her tech background, in her own words, wasn’t strong. “Just a year ago, I was using free ChatGPT like most people use Google,” Byun says.
After working on projects including the redesign of a popular yoga app to better support people with physical limitations where she used eye-tracking technology and ChatGPT to structure her research plan, map out testing flows, and analyze interview data, Byun, a graduate of the Master of Arts in UX/UI Design and Development program, has a completely different relationship with artificial intelligence (AI). “AI completely changed how I work. Before this program, I didn’t think it would become such a central part of my work process,” she says. “Everyone was talking about how AI might replace jobs, but for me, it’s done the opposite—it’s helped me grow. I work faster, make smarter design decisions, and have the confidence to take on things I never would’ve tried before.”
Woohee Byun worked on the redesign of a popular yoga app to better support people with physical limitations, using eye-tracking technology and ChatGPT to structure her research plan, map out testing flows, and analyze interview data.
Byun isn’t alone. Across the School of Architecture and Design, students are learning through a hands-on, real-world approach that rather than something to be feared, AI can be embraced as a powerful design partner.
“When I work with students, they learn that [AI is] not this ominous thing in the cloud that does tasks automatically,” says Matias del Campo, Ph.D., former associate professor of architecture and director of M.S., Architecture, Computational Technologies. “It’s really a dialogue partner in a creative process. As soon as students lose that fear, as soon as they lose that anxiety, it becomes really interesting, because then their creativity kicks in and they find ways of using those different AI models in very innovative, [sometimes practical, sometimes] wonderfully strange ways.”
Across the school’s three departments—architecture, interior design, and digital art and design—students and faculty alike are engaging with what del Campo is calling a “new ecology of architecture.” Reflecting New York Institute of Technology’s long-standing commitment to innovation and technology, the School of Architecture and Design is at the forefront of AI and emerging technology, expanding its integration within the curriculum, including research and student projects.
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“New York Tech has long positioned itself at the forefront of cutting-edge technology, and the School of Architecture and Design actively reflects that commitment,” says Di Wu, teaching assistant professor of interior design. Wu has focused on incorporating AI into the early stages of the four-year interior design B.F.A. program. “Across the department, we regularly integrate robotics, digital fabrication, advanced design tools, and biomaterials into both teaching and research. These technologies are not treated as add-ons but are embedded in our curriculum and studio culture.”
Kevin Park, M.F.A., assistant professor and chair of digital art and design, notes, “AI integration reflects our proactive, industry-aligned curriculum philosophy. Students are equipped not only with emerging technology skills but also with the critical frameworks needed to innovate responsibly. Through hands-on projects, research labs, and collaborations with industry partners, they gain practical, future-ready experiences that prepare them to lead across UX design, game development, digital storytelling, and product innovation.”
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