How can a technology often described as inherently destructive find relevance in a field powered by creativity?
Amid the excitement and anxiety, a pressing question lingers: where does this leave creators, especially those entering fields where AI is frequently positioned as a replacement rather than a collaborator? Karnavati University’s Ahmedabad Design Week (ADW) 7.0, which took place from 31st January to 1st February 2026, attempted to address this tension head-on. Now in its seventh edition, the three-day design conclave was first conceptualised in 2020 and is hosted on the university’s Gandhinagar campus and centred on the growing intersection of AI and creative practices. A flagship initiative led by the Unitedworld Institute of Design (UID), ADW brought together students, educators, industry leaders, technologists and startup founders to examine how emerging technologies are reshaping design education and professional workflows.
A boon or a bane?
Home to six academic disciplines, Karnavati University has steadily positioned itself as a hub for design-led discourse. And so, ADW functions less like a conventional college fest and more like a cross-disciplinary forum. This edition, the programme featured keynote sessions, panel discussions, workshops and exhibitions across venues in Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.
A prelude to a bigger picture
One of the most recurrent conversations across sessions revolved around discernment: when is it appropriate to invite AI into the creative process? Shweta Tiwari, Associate Professor, Department of Interior Design at UID, shared a telling classroom anecdote. “The students were yet to work with software, and they didn’t know 3D tools or rendering, but when they fed their sketches into AI, it helped them contextualise their ideas,” she explained. The technology, here, didn’t replace thinking; it accelerated visual understanding. Walking through the biophilic campus, which was more retreat than institution, the sentiment felt fitting. As Col. Bose, Dean of UID, put it, “AI is an additional tool, much like the internet once was.”
He noted that ADW 7.0 also acts as a prelude to the Global AI Summit scheduled to take place in Delhi in February 2026, positioning the conclave as part of a much larger, nationwide conversation on creativity and technology.
