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📄 Research Article

Artificial Intelligence as Catalyst and Contested Terrain: Transforming Interior Design Practice, Pedagogy, and Professional Regulation in Malaysia

◐ medium · 2026-08-12generative-ai, higher-ed, curriculum-design, professional-training, teacher-role, equity, policy

Synthesis: This article examines how generative AI and intelligent visualization platforms are reshaping interior design practice in Malaysia, shifting designers from primary form-generators toward critical mediators and curators of machine outputs. It explores the implications for university curricula, arguing that professional education must integrate technical proficiency with critical and ethical judgment, and addresses emerging needs for professional regulation.

Key Findings

1. Changing professional identity. Generative AI tools, intelligent visualization platforms, and AI-native residential developments (e.g., AI Living at i-City) are altering design processes, client expectations, and market dynamics in Malaysia.

2. New designer role. Practicing designers are shifting from primary form-generators toward critical mediators and curators of machine outputs, while retaining essential contextual and ethical judgment.

3. Curriculum and regulation needs. Universities must develop curricula that combine technical proficiency with critical and ethical judgment so graduates can evaluate AI suggestions rather than rely on them uncritically, and the profession faces emerging needs for regulation as AI becomes embedded in practice.

Implications

For Curriculum Design and Professional Training in design and other practice-based fields, the paper is a case study in how Generative AI reshapes not just workflows but professional identity and the purposes of professional education. It connects to Teacher Role questions about what practitioners must learn to supervise and curate machine outputs rather than simply produce them.

The analysis also speaks to Higher Ed and Educational Policy AI: institutions are being asked to decide how much of a profession's technical skill remains human-owned as AI mediates it, and how to regulate that boundary. This has parallels for AI Education across applied disciplines and for Equity In AI Education as market and institutional pressures accelerate AI adoption unevenly.

Connected Concepts

  • Generative AI
  • Higher Ed
  • Curriculum Design
  • Professional Training
  • Teacher Role
  • Equity In AI Education
  • AI Education
  • Educational Policy AI

    • Connected Articles

  • AI Changing Teaching Workflows — How AI changes teaching workflows
  • AI Education Global Capacity — Global capacity for AI education
  • AI Ethics Education Public Discourse — AI ethics in public discourse
  • AI Adult Learning Design — AI in adult learning design
  • Pchl He Framework GenAI Content Creation 2026 — PCHL-HE framework for content creation

    • Citation

    Syed Abdul Rahman, S. F. (2026). Artificial intelligence as catalyst and contested terrain: Transforming interior design practice, pedagogy, and professional regulation in Malaysia. EdArXiv preprint.