Samsung Electronics in the present day held the ultimate session in its CES 2026 Tech Forum collection, “The Human Side of Tech: Designing a Future Worth Living,” at Samsung’s The First Look area at The Wynn Las Vegas. The panel, moderated by Debbie Millman, host of “Design Matters,” featured Samsung Chief Design Officer Mauro Porcini and industry-leading designers Karim Rashid and Fabio Novembre.
With minimalism having outlined the visible language of the tech {industry} for the previous twenty years, this panel of designers convened by Samsung requested: What comes subsequent? Together, the panelists explored how hotter, extra expressive and emotionally resonant know-how can form significant experiences in in the present day’s AI period, whereas additionally charting a path ahead for the {industry}.
Design as an Act of Love
The session coated a shared view on the aim of design as basically people-first. “In recent years, design in tech has been somewhat uniform,” mentioned moderator Debbie Millman. “Compared to other industries, the uniformity in the world of tech is an anomaly. So what if we were to extend technology beyond specifications and functionality?”
Samsung is presently addressing this query by introducing which means past merchandise by specializing in how know-how matches into folks’s lives, experiences and desires. The panelists mentioned the rising significance of this mindset within the present panorama by which conventional boundaries to entry corresponding to entry to instruments, scale and technical functionality proceed to decrease.
The Human Side of Tech
The dialogue highlighted know-how’s position in making intention, care and humanity seen in on a regular basis life. Panelists famous that know-how ought to assist folks acknowledge the thoughtfulness embedded within the merchandise they invite into their houses and routines.
In this context, Samsung Chief Design Officer Mauro Porcini shared Samsung’s design objective: to counterpoint the standard of individuals’s lives by means of significant know-how designed for humanity. He outlined the corporate’s dedication to assist folks reside longer, reside higher, reside louder and reside on by means of superior applied sciences that help wellbeing, creativity and self-expression.
Panelist Karim Rashid added to this sentiment, saying, “When we think about physical things in our world, we think not only about diversity of choice but also the fact that we can develop strong connections to objects,” he mentioned. “Through design, you can end up with a very powerful, emotional connection with inanimate objects, or even products.”
Designing for Human Values
The panel went on to discover how AI can unlock new potentialities for expression when formed by human values. Panelists mentioned a shared view that AI reaches its true potential when guided by Emotional Intelligence and Human Imagination, not as a substitute for human creativity however as a pressure that expands it.
CDO Porcini articulated this with “AI × (EI + HI),” his strategy to balancing Emotional Intelligence and Human Imagination to carry which means to innovation. While describing this philosophy, CDO Porcini mentioned, “When we design and develop, AI is amplified by Emotional Intelligence and Human Imagination. Then, when people use products, AI amplifies Emotional Intelligence and Human Imagination.” He added, “Do not fear technology. We are here to humanize it, guide it, and shape it.”
Through these insights, the session strengthened the assumption that know-how must be humanized, guided and formed to serve folks’s lives in more and more new and significant methods.
Expressive Design Drives More Meaningful Experiences
The dialogue strengthened the significance of expressive design in bringing human-centered objective to life, creating experiences that replicate emotion, help self-expression, invite connection and stimulate creativeness.
“Happiness is the aim of design,” mentioned Fabio Novembre. “Our pursuit of happiness is thru…
