When AI meets design: the role of enhanced and impeded human–AI interaction in designers’ value co-creation

Purpose With the rapid penetration of generative AI (GAI) in product design, designer-GAI value co-creation has emerged as a transformative new paradigm. However, the drivers and inhibitors of professional designers’ intentions to engage in GAI value co-creation remain under-explored, especially from the designer-centric perspective. Grounded in parasocial interaction theory (PSI), this study aims to examine how heterogeneous human–AI interaction modes (enhanced vs. impeded) affect designers’ co-creation intentions. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the hypotheses using survey data from 305 professional designers analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings Results show that the informativeness and novelty of GAI outputs significantly and positively predict designers’ co-creation intentions. Enhanced human–AI interaction positively promotes both informativeness and novelty, with AI transparency positively moderating these effects. Impeded human–AI interaction only negatively affects informativeness, with no significant effect on novelty, and AI transparency shows no moderating effect here. Originality/value This study extends human–AI interaction research and provides actionable guidance for GAI application in design practice.