Abstract
This paper presents Small AI as a conceptual lever for designers to resist the ‘bigger is better’ trend in the discourse and development of Generative AI. We explore different types of Small AI: initially in relation to the size of models, as smaller models require less computational resources for both training and inference, thus implying a smaller ecological footprint. However, we extend the meaning of smallness to apply to political, epistemic and cultural domains as well. In this vein, the paper posits Small AI as an imaginary-in-the-making, and a rallying concept for an alternative innovation agenda that holds, in the spirit of E.F. Schumacher’s famous dictum, that it is small (AI) and not big (AI) that is beautiful. The paper draws conclusions for those designing with/for AI, positing Small AI as a form of ‘unmaking’ with which designers may re-articulate the entangled relations between users, computation, and worlds.
Keywords
critical design, sustainability, conviviality, generative AI
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1193
Citation
Bendor, R., Murray-Rust, D., and Rehak, R. (2026) Small AI: A degrowth imaginary for designing with/for artificial intelligence, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1193
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Small AI: A degrowth imaginary for designing with/for artificial intelligence
This paper presents Small AI as a conceptual lever for designers to resist the ‘bigger is better’ trend in the discourse and development of Generative AI. We explore different types of Small AI: initially in relation to the size of models, as smaller models require less computational resources for both training and inference, thus implying a smaller ecological footprint. However, we extend the meaning of smallness to apply to political, epistemic and cultural domains as well. In this vein, the paper posits Small AI as an imaginary-in-the-making, and a rallying concept for an alternative innovation agenda that holds, in the spirit of E.F. Schumacher’s famous dictum, that it is small (AI) and not big (AI) that is beautiful. The paper draws conclusions for those designing with/for AI, positing Small AI as a form of ‘unmaking’ with which designers may re-articulate the entangled relations between users, computation, and worlds.