Aidan Walker X Gadi Amit: Interpreting the balance between technology and humanity

In today's world where technology and design continue to converge, how to maintain a human-centered approach amid the wave of innovation has become a critical question for designers worldwide. Gadi Amit, recipient of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award and a globally renowned designer of tech products, draws on over two decades of practical experience to propose a unique concept of “pro-social design”—one that not only focuses on the interaction between humans and technology but also explores how design can reshape human relationships and social structures.

Prior to the official opening of the conference, Aidan Walker, Conference Director of the Design Shenzhen, conducted a special preview interview with Gadi Amit a leading global technology designer to explore his unique design concepts and creative thinking, giving the audience a sneak peek into his innovative insights.

 

Q：Gadi, tell us a little about your own educational background, how you arrived at product design, and why your studio operates on a flat, non-hierarchical basis.

Gadi：I went to Design school in Jerusalem in the late 80’s, right at the tail end of the post-modernist wave in Industrial Design (Memphis etc.). That era also included the rise of Ron Arad, ‘New British design’ and other non-conventional design approaches. Plus, I met the first Apple Macintosh. I was aiming to be a car designer, yet the Digital world captivated me, and the Mac made me feel that there is a new world of really cool electronics. I wanted to be a part of it. That background, plus my personality (nonconformist / contrarian) made my design process question aspects of each project or product – doing so professionally includes listening to many voices and ideas. The studio’s flat hierarchy is part of that method- allowing many ideas to be presented, discussed and amalgamated into something new and great.  

 

Q：What to you is ‘social design’? Are you aiming to design society, or is it a design philosophy that applies itself to solving society’s problems?

Gadi：I call it ‘pro-social’ design,  to separate it from ‘social apps’ or designing society. It is about designing digital experiences that are pushing for better relations between people, and between people and technology, and between society at large and the tech world. It is about mitigating some of the negatives the Digital world created, including isolation, loneliness, dependency on Social apps, and in the future – our relationship with super-intelligent ‘beings’, either physical (robots) or digital (AI ‘agents’). I believe Pro-social design should replace Environmentalism in design as an important issue in our design practice. Pro Environmental design practices should be part of Pro Social design.

 

Q：You talk about ‘The Wisdom of the Hand’, which resonates with other design philosophers who have used phrases like ‘the intelligent hand’ and ‘the case for working with your hands’. I personally believe passionately in the value of craft, for all people not just designers. What does it mean to you? Simply sketching by hand as a studio process in the development of ideas? Or something wider and more far-reaching?

Gadi：At the most basic level, it is about the Designer’s internal process of discovery and creativity. How you approach a problem, learn the constraints, and start developing a solution. It is a very personal process for each designer, yet it always includes some sketching, mock-up building, mistakes and dead ends. In a broader sense, when a group, a design team, looks for design solution, there importance for similar exposure of ideas: sketches, mockups, experiments and hacking. These explorations are usually less verbal and more physical manifestation of the thinking process. Less analytical and more intuitive than most people admit to. The ‘wisdom’ is in the fact that such non-analytic, non-linear, often crude and fast cycles of sketch-draw-build-break-repeat, always generating mysterious surprises – unexpected discoveries – these are the magical moments of creating great design.

 

Q：I’m going to quote you: ‘Technology doesn’t understand life.’ - The current direction of technology doesn’t fit human culture. First you need to explain that, and then to tell us what you think we can do about it.

Gadi：That’s a huge philosophical topic. We just finished a long process in the studio discussing the limitation of AI in Intelligence. Human culture – and Intelligence – are based on motivations just as much as it is on logics or rationale. We aim towards some preferred outcome. That ‘aim’ is driven by culture, beliefs, psyche. In the western world, for some unclear reason, there is a dogma of ‘absolute reasoning’ in which – in theory – business and technology are driven by ‘reason’ and ‘logic’, rather than other aspects. The tech world is full of it and many of its leaders are having difficulties dealing with those other aspects: culture, religion, traditions, beliefs. Unfortunately for the Tech world, ‘Life’ includes much of those ‘other aspects’ than they could care for. It is, to my understanding, a source of many difficulties and failures of the Tech world. This is not said to replace the ‘logic’ entirely with ‘psyche’ – it is about the balance and presence of those non-logical aspects in designing and developing tech. We must include these in every technology development process.    

 

Q：Apparently we’re now operating in the ‘attention economy’. What is it, and how will technology deal with it?

Gadi：Attention economy is the economy that is based on click-throughs, how much time you spend on a specific Tik-Tok video, how many people saw and reacted to your ‘like’ and what business can learn from that about you… and use it to sell you stuff. It is also about Apps tracking each of your movements, the about of seconds you stay in one page and more. That economy is a huge part of the Tech world revenues and business-making. It is going to change with AI, as those fixed UI patterns are going to be way more unpredictable with AI agents.

 

Q：Everyone talks about machine intelligence. What about machine ethics? Tell us about your football test.

Gadi：Huge topic, already addressed it above. Ethics are part of Society’s culture/beliefs/values, and the tech world has major issues in incorporating these into their thinking. I intentionally expand the topic beyond ‘ethics’, as the framing brought political debate into tech – while it has merits and some importance, I think the issue is larger: It is about cultural impact inside tech’s thinking process. We deal a lot with Autonomous ‘things’ (robots, cars etc.) and we use an example: When you start driving at age 16-17 you’re a bad driver, you become a better driver with time as you learn that there is more to driving than following the rules or controlling the car. So, when you drive and notice kids playing near the road and suddenly the ball is rolling across the road, you’d stop immediately as you recognize the tendency of kids to run after the ball. That’s cultural recognition, not logical object avoidance practice.  

Q：What can you see happening in the world of tech-driven design in China that differentiates it from the West?

Gadi：I am not an expert, and I want to be cautious here. I think China has a lot of momentum in design and technology. It looks as if there are less boundaries in the market and more opportunity for smaller companies to grow fast. Chinese product development seems to be faster than in the West. I think part of it is since China still make things. I understand that the Chinese market is huge and growing faster than the West. I think the next wave for China could be to take more Leadership role in Tech outside China. It also seems to me that Design in China is more influenced by European design than American. Part of it is the presence of Luxury brands and Luxury designers. I am curious why is it. I would love to know what Chinese designers think about Tech, Western design and values.

 

Q：Lastly, will machines soon be more creative than humans, and what can we do about it?

Gadi：No, true creativity includes motivation, beliefs and culture. These are still far away from the reach of AI creativity. It is now more mimicry and speeds – admittedly, for many people this is ‘creativity’ but it is not really.

 

In September 2025, Gadi Amit will appear at the Technology and Creativity Conference to present two keynote sessions — Technology Innovation through Design and The Big Debate: Human Versus AI Creativity. Where Does the Big Idea Come From? Drawing on his wealth of international project experience and acute industry insight, he will lead audiences in exploring how technology-led design can strike a meaningful balance with humanity in an era of rapid change.