Position Statement on Artificial Intelligence

Executive Summary

AI is transforming UX practice by creating new design challenges and offering tools to support UX work. The UXQB advocates human-centred AI development and commits to reviewing its curricula and ethics framework to ensure they support developing approaches to HCD that incorporate the use of AI. UX professionals should use AI critically – always verifying AI outputs and maintaining their core skills.

Preamble

The International Usability and User Experience Qualification Board (UXQB) considers the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a driver and component within the development of modern interactive systems. It will have a significant impact on the UX profession.

As with any technology used by humans, AI is inherently a subject of UX and human-centred design, presenting new challenges around human-AI collaboration, control, trust, sustainability, and ethics. While foundational HCD concepts will remain stable, the role of UX professionals will shift from manual production towards quality assurance of AI-generated outputs.

This position statement provides orientation for UX professionals, informs UXQB curricula development, and serves as a reference for UXQB working groups. It represents recommendations, not binding regulations.

Core Principles

The UXQB advocates for AI-based systems to be developed in a human-centred manner. In particular, the UXQB believes that

• AI systems must clearly communicate which data is used for what, and which decisions are made by AI.
• Users must retain control over interactions with AI systems and be able to make informed decisions.
• UX processes for AI-based systems must ensure testability and traceability of interactions.
• Ethical principles and legal frameworks must be consistently adopted in design and evaluation, addressing AI-specific concerns such as algorithmic bias, data privacy, explainability, and societal impact.

UXQB Commitments

Curriculum Review: review all CPUX curricula to ensure they support developing approaches to HCD that incorporate the use of AI; update curriculum content accordingly.

Ethics Framework: assess whether current ethical and sustainable design definitions adequately address AI-specific concerns.

Working Group: establish a working group to monitor AI developments and provide recommendations for curriculum evolution.

Benefits of AI to UX Work

AI can support UX work by analysing large datasets, identifying patterns, generating draft deliverables, and enabling fast prototype iterations. However, these technologies should be used as aids, not replacements for human creativity, empathy, and critical thinking.

Guidelines for UX-Professionals

• Always treat AI-generated output as a first draft, never the final product. Use your own expertise to verify the accuracy, relevance, and fairness of the output.
• Keep yourself updated on the latest developments in AI. Be curious, try things out.
• Keep sharp! Relying too heavily on AI-generated results can negatively impact your most important skill: the ability to think.
• Continue to apply HCD methods. HCD methods are more important than ever to create useful and usable AI-based products.