The Unbearable Lightness of Prompting. A Critical Reflection on the Environmental Impact of genAI use in Design Education

Design educators are finding ways to support students in skillfully using GenAI tools in their practices while encouraging the critical scrutiny of the ethical and social issues around these technologies. However, the issue of environmental sustainability remains unaddressed. There is a lack of resources to grasp the environmental costs of genAI in education, but also, and foremost, a lack of shared practices for engaging with the issue. This paper critically reflects on the energy costs of using genAI in design education, using a workshop held in 2023 with 49 students as a springboard for reflection. Through this reflection, we develop a set of five alternative stances: acceptance, shift, moderation, friction, and refusal. Each of these, and the related actions, can support a conscious use of genAI in design education. The work contributes to the field of design and HCI by bringing together ways for educators to reflect on their practices, informing the future development of educational programs around genAI.