Infographic and research project Anatomy of an AI System, which lays bear the social and environmental consequences of voice-assistant devices, has won Design of the Year 2019.
The project, by Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler, won the digital design category and went on to scoop the overall Beazley Design of the Year Award, which is organised by London's Design Museum.
The project beat a school library in India, an Adidas clothing collaboration and a bus designed by Muji.
Anatomy of an AI System comprises a visual map and an essay
Crawford and Joler's project looks at the amount of human labour, data and resources that are required during the lifespan of just one device from manufacture to disposal, using the popular Amazon Echo device as an example. "You will never look at your smart home hub the same way again," said chair of the judges and Royal College of Art vice-chancellor Paul Thompson.
A diagram demonstrates the impact of the device on a global scale, from extracting metals from the earth necessary to build it and the resulting environmental effects, to the personal data about the user that the device gathers.
This is supplemented by an essay explaining the connections and real-world effects of the device.
It shows the real-world social and environmental effects of a voice assistant
"It is honesty of materials applied to technology," said designer Martino Gamper, one of the six judges, describing it as a "prototype" for how we understand ...