In the two years since Touchpoint Vol. 15 No. 1, which looked at ‘Service Design at the Dawn of AI’, we have moved beyond themes of automation, co-creation and analysis, towards seeing AI as a complex, socio-technical actor. Rather than talking about ‘collaboration’, we now talk about ‘co-performance’, acknowledging the difference between humans and machines.

In the following pages you’ll also learn about how AI has led to updated and improved versions of our typical deliverables - such as additions to a service blueprint to capture its role through the flow of a service. But, reassuringly, you’ll find some continued calls for where human involvement remains critical in service delivery, and how designers must build 'legible' systems to close the accountability gap when AI fails.

As AI changes the very nature of work - and our work as service designers in particular - it is reshaping professional identities and shifting cognitive loads. It’s also requiring reskilling, new tools and new collaborations. It’s a time of uncertainty but also one of untapped potential and promising opportunities that seem to arrive one after the next. I hope the insights contained in this latest issue help you to navigate the uncertainty and carry out your work with new confidence.

– Jesse Grimes for the editorial board

Deep dive into this conversation from authors sharing their experience to explore this topic further.

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A special thank you to all authors and editors who contributed to this issue:

Editorial board:

• Dr. Pontus
• Alessandra Molderings-Enriconi
• Jod Kaftkan
• Shelley Evenson
• Chris Noel

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