Zelia Gomes Da Costa Lai

Yue Fu, Han Bin, Tony Zhou et al.

As generative AI (GenAI) increasingly permeates design workflows, its impact on design outcomes and designers' creative capabilities warrants investigation. We conducted a within-subjects experiment where we asked participants to design advertisements both with and without GenAI support. Our results show that expert evaluators rated GenAI-supported designs as more creative and unconventional ("weird") despite no significant differences in visual appeal, brand alignment, or usefulness, which highlights the decoupling of novelty from usefulness-traditional dual components of creativity-in the context of GenAI usage. Moreover, while GenAI does not significantly enhance designers' overall creative thinking abilities, users were affected differently based on native language and prior AI exposure. Native English speakers experienced reduced relaxation when using AI, whereas designers new to GenAI exhibited gains in divergent thinking, such as idea fluency and flexibility. These findings underscore the variable impact of GenAI on different user groups, suggesting the potential for customized AI tools.

Yue Fu, Yixin Chen, Zelia Gomes Da Costa Lai et al.

Relationships are essential to our happiness and wellbeing, yet their dissolution-the final stage of a relationship's lifecycle-is among the most stressful events individuals can experience, often leading to profound and lasting impacts. With the breakup process increasingly facilitated by technology, such as computer-mediated communication, and the likely future influence of generative AI (GenAI) tools, we conducted a semi-structured interview study with 21 participants. We aim to understand: 1) the current role of technology in the breakup process, 2) the needs and support individuals seek during this time, and 3) how GenAI might address or undermine these needs. Our findings show that people have distinct needs at various stages of breakups. While currently technology plays an important role, it falls short in supporting users' unmet needs. Participants envision that GenAI could: 1) aid in prompting self-reflection, providing neutral second opinions, and assisting with planning leading up to a breakup; 2) serve as a communication mediator, supporting wording and tone to facilitate emotional expression during breakup conversations; and 3) support personal growth and offer companionship after a breakup. However, our findings also reveal participants' concerns about involving GenAI in this process. Based on our results, we discuss the potential opportunities, design considerations, and harms of GenAI tools in facilitating people's relationship dissolution.