Nano Bananas and Cognitive Death: getting our relationship right with AI in Spatial Practice and Education

This symposium, 'Artificial Intelligence in Spatial Practice and Education', situates a critical conversation that firstly foregrounds AI as part of a social and technological discourse and analyses its impact in the context of spatial practices and spatial education.

The event featured presentations from three leading practitioners and researchers, followed by an open discussion exploring what AI means for the Interior Futures community:

Mahalia Henry Richards teaches on the MSc Creative Computing program at the Creative Computing Institute and is currently undertaking a PhD exploring how Generative AI could transform learning and teaching, The research uses speculative design to imagine future educational possibilities, advocating for a more ethical and personalised AI aligned with individual learning journeys.

Tobias Revell is an artist, designer, researcher and educator from London specializing in futures and technology through critical practice. He is Associate Director, Operations and Strategic Services Lead at Arup. He is undertaking a PhD in Design at Goldsmiths on 'Design and The Social Construction of AI' which explores the different ways that design is implicated in reciprocating mainstream myths, tropes and imaginaries of AI and how critical practitioners disrupt and introduce alternatives to the mainstream.

Peter Maloney is a Senior Lecturer at Camberwell College of Arts, he teaches on the MA Interior and Spatial Design course. He is a researcher in digital spatial practices and pedagogies. He lectures on 'Worldbuilding’. He runs the Club VirtUAL community of practice. In 2025 he collaborated with the designers Collectarium on the ‘Ideal Home for Lockdown Living’ project, part of London design week and Open House London and exhibited at Somerset House.

My Introduction sought to emphasize the importance of working now to get the right relationship with Ai. Stuart Russell (2021) calls this 'the biggest event in human history' - a moment which could be worth 10 quadrillion pounds if we can get it right. If we get it wrong in the race for "brains and bodies" (Wright, 2026) what are the implications for work and critical thinking?