In AI era, design must serve people: Seoul Design Foundation CEO

As artificial intelligence makes visual forms easier to produce, the value of design increasingly lies in how those creations serve people’s lives, Seoul Design Foundation CEO Cha Kang-heui said in congratulatory remarks at Herald Design Lounge 2026.

Speaking Friday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, Cha linked the event’s theme, "Beyond Visuals," to the changing role of designers, placing greater emphasis on understanding people and their daily lives.

"Understanding who will use something, in what circumstances and how remains a human responsibility," Cha said. "As technology takes on the task of creating forms, designers will become people who design the lives in which those forms find their place."

Drawing on his experience designing mobile phones, Cha recalled spending long hours considering individual curves and buttons. Looking back, he said, what made those products memorable was the role they played in users’ daily lives.

"I learned then that the value of design lies more in the lives in which a form is used than in the form itself," he said.

AI can now generate images in seconds and produce curves that once took considerable time to design with just a few lines of instructions, Cha said. As creating forms becomes easier, understanding the people who will use them becomes more important.

Cha also welcomed the event’s new beginning as the Herald Design Forum became Herald Design Lounge. Over the past 15 years, the forum has connected more than 100 leading creators with some 10,000 audience members, he said.

"Maintaining an event consistently for 15 years is far more difficult than staging a single large event," he said, paying tribute to its organizers.

Turning to design’s broader role in shaping the future, Cha cited keynote speaker Stefan Sagmeister’s remarks in an interview with The Korea Herald and The Herald Business that one role of design is to envision a future people want to live in.

Cha said the foundation shares that ambition and hopes to position Seoul as a city that helps set the direction for design.

"Our goal is for Seoul to become a city that puts forward the next direction for design, rather than one that follows the world’s design trends," he said.