# (Un)making AI Magic: a Design Taxonomy

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.15216 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.15216/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 128 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 22 Mar 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI): Concepts, Taxonomies, Opportunities and Challenges toward Responsible AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.10045/) (2019)
- [Human-Centered Explainable AI (XAI): From Algorithms to User Experiences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.10790/) (2021)
- [Designing for Responsible Trust in AI Systems: A Communication Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.13828/) (2022)
- [The Sanction of Authority: Promoting Public Trust in AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.04221/) (2021)
- [Machine Learning Uncertainty as a Design Material: A Post-Phenomenological Inquiry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.04035/) (2021)
- [Algorithms as Social-Ecological-Technological Systems: an Environmental Justice Lens on Algorithmic Audits](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.05733/) (2023)
- [Creativity in the era of artificial intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.05959/) (2020)
- [The Entoptic Field Camera as Metaphor-Driven Research-through-Design with AI Technologies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.09545/) (2023)
- [The brain is a computer is a brain: neuroscience's internal debate and the social significance of the Computational Metaphor](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.14042/) (2021)
- [Grasping AI: experiential exercises for designers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.01282/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [AI Mismatches: Identifying Potential Algorithmic Harms Before AI Development](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.18682/) (2025)
- [Where Do I 'Add the Egg'?: Exploring Agency and Ownership in AI Creative Co-Writing Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.15440/) (2025)
- [Toward Metaphor-Fluid Conversation Design for Voice User Interfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.11554/) (2025)
- [The Unbearable Lightness of Prompting: A Critical Reflection on the Environmental Impact of genAI use in Design Education](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.16061/) (2025)
- [Towards Meaningful Transparency in Civic AI Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.07889/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper examines the role that enchantment plays in the design of AI things by constructing a taxonomy of design approaches that increase or decrease the perception of magic and enchantment. We start from the design discourse surrounding recent developments in AI technologies, highlighting specific interaction qualities such as algorithmic uncertainties and errors and articulating relations to the rhetoric of magic and supernatural thinking. Through analyzing and reflecting upon 52 students' design projects from two editions of a Master course in design and AI, we identify seven design principles and unpack the effects of each in terms of enchantment and disenchantment. We conclude by articulating ways in which this taxonomy can be approached and appropriated by design/HCI practitioners, especially to support exploration and reflexivity.