The theme of each issue of Touchpoint is determined through the collaborative effort of past editors and authors, thought leaders and active volunteers within the global SDN community, ensuring topics of interest in the world of service design are covered within these pages. When themes for this issue were being voted upon, AI was the clear winner.

While AI technologies are being incorporated in many types of services, their application in public sector contexts creates a unique set of dynamics and opportunities.

In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, human-centred design offers the potential for positive change. Navigating the complexities of emerging fields in a B2B setting poses an opportunity to mindfully combine AI and human approaches and expedite the process, from context and user research to ideation.

As with any big transition, we don’t know exactly where AI will lead. Careful consideration is needed to meaningfully integrate AI into society in a way that respects people.

Imagine a world where designing services isn't just about human creativity, but also about smart bots working alongside us. In this article, we explore how AI is revolutionising service design by taking on some of the designers' tasks and improving the outcomes. Through real-world examples, we demonstrate how AI has become a powerful partner for designers and offer guidance on how to effectively integrate AI into the design process.

The accessibility problem of today's web isn't a lack of guidelines or tools, it's a lack of empathy.

A deep-dive into service design and social sustainability. The excitement around AI is often followed by concerns. As service designers who often play the role of advocates for our customers, how can we evolve the way we work to ensure we continue to play this role with integrity in a rapidly changing world?

Generative AI is positioned as potentially driving efficiencies so powerful that companies can reduce their headcounts by the thousands, or so numerous headlines and quotations seem to suggest.

In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, human-centred design offers the potential for positive change. Navigating the complexities of emerging fields in a B2B setting poses an opportunity to mindfully combine AI and human approaches and expedite the process, from context and user research to ideation.

AI is rapidly transforming services, demanding urgent adaptation from designers. To navigate this change, we propose a new framework specifically designed to harness AI's potential while preserving human-centred experiences. This article explores the framework, outlining key considerations and principles for crafting meaningful AI-powered services.

As we navigate complex service landscapes, how might we harness the power of generative AI to enhance the experience blueprinting process? Our explorations delve into the potential of AI in co-creating detailed, context-aware journeys – offering a fresh perspective on integrating AI with service design.

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds enormous potential for inclusive digital services because it can rapidly modify affordances and help communication by adapting to individuals’ sensory and cognitive abilities. But it can also compromise privacy and amplify discrimination. How can we strike a balance to design AI-based services that are accessible and equitable to everyone?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises to revolutionise how healthcare organisations serve patients but harnessing this technology to design better services is fraught with unknowns and confounders.

The rapid advancement of AI has brought about significant changes in various industries, and service design is no exception. As AI continues to evolve and become more sophisticated, it is crucial for service designers to understand its potential and learn how to effectively integrate it into their service offerings.

Guiding organizations toward responsible AI adoption. The growing hype around AI follows an all-too-familiar pattern: the desire by organisations to supplant human expertise with technological tools.

AI technology is advancing rapidly and sparks both interest among businesses as well as fears of its potential consequences. While the prevailing mood is excitement for the technology's potential, most of the current AI discourse emphasises business and technology perspectives. To ensure AI solutions respond to the needs of the people they are intended to serve, we designers should get involved now, not later.

How to unlock differentiation in the era of generative AI. We are on the cusp of a customer-service revolution, driven by generative AI. The technology, with its ability to derive deep insights and generate new content based on vast stores of structured and unstructured data, opens the opportunity to craft richer, more satisfying experiences.

Integrating AI into service design teams responsibly and effectively. While AI is becoming ubiquitous in the work of more and more service designers, there is less attention being paid to how it affects teams.