Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly embedded in creative practice, offering new possibilities for ideation while raising concerns about reduced idea diversity and diminished cognitive engagement. This paper introduces generative analogical intelligence (GAI) as a human-centered approach that foregrounds analogy, material culture, and speculative reasoning to sustain creative thinking. Through a research-through-design (RtD) methodology, the study develops and refines the FABRIC framework (form, action, behavior, relation, intention, context) across three co-design phases involving design students, non-specialists, and design professionals. Findings suggest that analogy-based cross-pollination can reintroduce productive cognitive friction, support both divergent and convergent thinking, and generate varied outcomes. However, participants also experienced difficulty interpreting analogy objects without structured guidance. The FABRIC framework addresses this by scaffolding relational mapping across domains. The paper contributes a conceptual model (GAI), a methodological framework (FABRIC), and empirical insights into sustaining creative agency in the context of generative systems.
Keywords
Analogical Reasoning, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Research-through-Design (RtD), Speculative Co-design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2836
Citation
Ranpura, N. (2026) Generative analogical intelligence: Speculative co-design through the fabric of analogy, 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.2026.2836
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Generative analogical intelligence: Speculative co-design through the fabric of analogy
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly embedded in creative practice, offering new possibilities for ideation while raising concerns about reduced idea diversity and diminished cognitive engagement. This paper introduces generative analogical intelligence (GAI) as a human-centered approach that foregrounds analogy, material culture, and speculative reasoning to sustain creative thinking. Through a research-through-design (RtD) methodology, the study develops and refines the FABRIC framework (form, action, behavior, relation, intention, context) across three co-design phases involving design students, non-specialists, and design professionals. Findings suggest that analogy-based cross-pollination can reintroduce productive cognitive friction, support both divergent and convergent thinking, and generate varied outcomes. However, participants also experienced difficulty interpreting analogy objects without structured guidance. The FABRIC framework addresses this by scaffolding relational mapping across domains. The paper contributes a conceptual model (GAI), a methodological framework (FABRIC), and empirical insights into sustaining creative agency in the context of generative systems.