Intentional by design: who holds the power when AI enters the room?

Themes: AI, automation and fairness in services | Governance and decision-making | Design principles for public services | Transparency and accountability | Design and power

Democratising design is not just about who participates in the process. It is also about who controls the decisions that shape public services. 

As AI accelerates into government, service designers face a defining question: are we using this technology intentionally, or just reaching for it because we can? 

Grounded in equity-centred practice and real public sector scenarios, this workshop will encourage participants to challenge the assumption that AI is primarily an efficiency fix, and explore what it means to embed it as a genuine actor in service delivery. 

Through identity reflection and structured scenario work, participants will leave with practical principles for keeping transparency, accountability, and decision-making power where they belong when designing public services in an AI-shaped world.

Participant takeaways:

• a personal reflection on how identity and position shapes your instincts and decision-making, including around emerging technologies such as AI
• a framework for moving beyond "AI as efficiency fix" toward a more intentional view of AI as an embedded actor in service delivery, deployed for what it genuinely does well
• a set of questions for interrogating where AI should play a role in government services, grounded in equity and real public sector scenarios
• practical principles for maintaining transparency, accountability and decision-making power when introducing AI into service design, and clarity on what it means to own those decisions as a designer

This session: 

• includes interaction