The design field is currently shaped by two major developments: the urgent need to address global sustainability challenges and the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI, especially generative models, is transforming the field of design (Fang et al., 2025; Witkowski and Wodecki, 2025; Khanolkar et al., 2023). However, a significant gap remains in the literature between the research streams of AI-driven design and sustainable design, with limited dialogue on how AI can be actively leveraged to drive design solutions that promote environmental and socio-economic sustainability. Furthermore, achieving a sustainable future requires a deep understanding of human-AI interaction (Chen et al., 2026). The growing use of AI tools calls for a closer look at how interacting with AI influences a designer’s cognition and behaviour when addressing sustainability challenges. Finally, a genuinely sustainable future must be an equitable one. This special issue therefore welcomes research that deploys AI to develop solutions that are effective across diverse societies and cultural contexts, and that are designed responsibly, ethically, and safely.

This Special Issue aims to explore current developments at the intersection of AI, design, and sustainable development. We adopt a socio-technical and systems-level perspective, recognizing the dual role of AI in this domain:

• Human-AI collaboration in sustainable design: How advanced AI, such as Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative algorithms, can support designers. This includes helping them navigate complex sustainability constraints, conduct lifecycle assessments (LCAs), and design for the circular economy.
• Design of Sustainable AI-Embedded Systems: How designers conceptualize, evaluate, and manufacture products that incorporate AI to conserve resources and operate efficiently across sectors such as energy, healthcare, transportation, and agriculture.

Topics include but not limited to the following:

• AI-driven approaches for sustainable product design, lifecycle assessments (LCAs), and minimizing carbon footprints.
• The impact of generative AI on design cognition, ideation, and decision-making when tackling socio-economic and environmental challenges.
• Machine learning applications that support the circular economy.
• AI-supported design strategies tailored for resource-limited societies and social good.
• Methodologies for human-AI collaboration to generate sustainable design concepts.
• The conceptualization and optimization of AI-embedded products that reduce resource consumption in critical sectors.
• Frameworks for integrating ethical, safe, and responsible AI practices into the design process.

References

Chen, G., Yu, Z., Xie, Y., Liu, Z., & Yu, C. (2026). The study of human-AI Co-creation design under generative artificial intelligence: Cognition, process, method, and outcome. Journal of Engineering Design, 37(4), 1710-1751.

Fang, C., Zhu, Y., Fang, L., Long, Y., Lin, H., Cong, Y., & Wang, S. J. (2025). Generative AI-enhanced human-AI collaborative conceptual design: A systematic literature review. Design Studies, 97, 101300.

Khanolkar, P. M., Vrolijk, A., & Olechowski, A. (2023). Mapping artificial intelligence-based methods to engineering design stages: A focused literature review. AI EDAM, 37, e25.

Witkowski, A., & Wodecki, A. (2025). Where does AI play a major role in the new product development and product management process?. Management Review Quarterly, 1-38.

Information about the format and style required for AI EDAM papers, as well as about submission, can be found at: https://multimediafluids.uam.elogim.com/core/journals/ai-edam/information/instructions-contributors

Note that all queries and information about submissions for thematic collections should be addressed to the Guest Editors, and not to the Editor in Chief. Please submit your paper through the ScholarOne system online at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aie 

You need to create a user account first if you are a new user. During your submission process, note that you will need to answer the question: "Are you submitting to a Thematic Collection?", and you will need to choose “Artificial Intelligence in Design for a Sustainable Future" from the drop-down list.

Important dates

Submission deadline for full papers	31 March 2027
Reviews due	30 June 2027
Notification & reviews due to authors	15 August 2027
Revised version submission deadline	30 September 2027
Second round of reviews due	30 November 2027
Final version due	15 January 2028
Issue Appears	February 2028

Guest Editors

Dr. Santosh Jagtap	Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India	Email: santosh.jagtap@iitg.ac.in
Dr. Edwin Koh	Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore	Email: edwin_koh@sutd.edu.sg
Dr. Ada Hurst	University of Waterloo, Canada	Email: adahurst@uwaterloo.ca
Dr. Prashant Goswami	Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden	Email: prashant.goswami@bth.se