Designing Neural Media: Allado-McDowell’s Compelling Typology Incorporating AI

> “It’s the end of explanations, a great increase in reality is here.” –K Allado-McDowell and GPT-3, Air Age Blueprint

AI’s integration into the field of design appears to be highlighting a profound transition from creating artefacts to working with systems that think, adapt, and influence. In K Allado-McDowell’s compelling youtube talk, Designing Neural Media, a framework emerges that challenges us to rethink our role as designers in this new era. Drawing on the legacy of visionaries like McLuhan, K’s work maps out a 30-year evolution of media that progresses from broadcast and immersive forms, through network media, and now into the realm of neural media.

Allado-McDowell proposes a cogent continuum of four media waves. First is Broadcast Media, traditional media such as radio and television employing one-to-many communication, which developed from the 1920s to the 1950s. Second is Immersive Media, which provide engaging experiences like cinema and virtual reality, spanning from the 1950s to the 1980s. Third is Network Media, encompassing the internet and social media and enabling user interaction, emerging from the 1980s to the 2010s. Fourth is Neural Media, AI-based media (i.e., generative AI and brain-computer interfaces) that are emerging from the 2010s-2020s and beyond.

Allado-McDowell argues that this latest wave is built on AI’s neural networks and hints at future integrations with brain-computer interfaces, transforming our tools from passive artefacts into dynamic, generative systems that not only respond but also learn and adapt. For modern design strategists, this shift demands we move beyond pursuing aesthetic excellence and conventional problem-solving; instead, we are now tasked with architecting intelligence itself. The challenge lies in creating systems that think, adapt, and ultimately influence human cognition, thereby fundamentally reshaping our approach to design.

Central to Allado-McDowell’s argument is the notion that we are at an early, malleable stage in the development of neural media. We are at a pivotal moment when design choices can shape cultural identity, ethical norms, and even political structures. Designing neural media, therefore, involves developing a critical literacy to understand AI’s capabilities, limitations, and underlying biases. It calls for experimentation (i.e., engaging in co-creation projects with AI) which can reveal entirely new modes of artistic expression and subjectivity. Moreover, by actively engaging with these emerging technologies, designers and creators can promote values like inclusivity, creativity, and democratic subject formation, whilst mitigating risks such as bias, manipulation, and loss of privacy. Allado-McDowell compares this process to guiding the growth of a tree, where early interventions in the structure of neural media can profoundly affect how we come to understand ourselves and our relationship with technology.

Embracing neural media compels us to integrate ethical considerations, cultural context, and systems thinking into our work. It is about designing for an interconnected future in which our creations actively shape and redefine the human experience. Allado-McDowell’s insights suggest that deep engagement with these emerging technologies is essential to building a future where design and intelligent systems co-evolve for the betterment of society. Interesting talk. Thank you K Allado-McDowell.

Resources

Allado-McDowell, K., 2023a. Designing Neural Media. Gropiusbau Journal. Available at: https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/gropius-bau/programme/journal/2023/k-allado-mcdowell-designing-neural-media [Accessed 20 February 2025].

Allado-McDowell, K., 2023b. Interview with K Allado-McDowell. Berlin Art Link. Available at: https://www.berlinartlink.com/2023/10/31/interview-k-allado-mcdowell-gropius-bau-writer-in-residence/ [Accessed 20 February 2025].

Allado-McDowell, K., 2024a. On Neural Media. New Models. Available at: https://newmodels.substack.com/p/nm-76-k-allado-mcdowell-on-neural [Accessed 20 February 2025].

Allado-McDowell, K., 2024b. Designing Neural Media . YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c3FoAi_SLQ [Accessed 20 February 2025].

Allado-McDowell, K., 2025. K Allado-McDowell. Available at: https://www.kalladomcdowell.com/ [Accessed 20 February 2025].