No Harm Done

Ethics, Design and AI

A groundbreaking series of events on ethics, design and AI. Working across Melbourne in partnership with multiple partners who are interested in how we design from, with and by data, we are running a series of events that brings together perspectives from across sectors to explore the critical discourse on designing with AI and other data-driven systems.

As businesses, organisations, independent creatives and academics increasingly interact with — or even build— AI tools, we lack the community through which to reflect on the social, ethical and environmental implications of those systems.

These events seek to fill the gap, bringing together perspectives from academia, design, business and law to think holistically about how we design new ethical pathways for AI. In doing so, we acknowledge and draw upon First Nations ways of knowing, being and doing to inform more ethical and sustainable approaches to technology.

We'll look beyond the code, to the fundamental design challenges involved in creating a positive, equitable future with ethical artificial intelligence.

Previous Event

No Harm Done #1 Melbourne

Ethics, Design, and AI
Thurs 13 February 2025, 6pm-7.30pm, ACMI, Melbourne

No Harm Done #1 is a bold new public event series exploring ethical, sustainable pathways for AI through thoughtful design with and by data. The inaugural event, hosted between ACMI and RMIT is part of the ACMI’s Future of Arts, Culture & Technology Symposium (FACT 2025), the event will spark fresh conversations at the intersection of AI, climate, and evolving audiences.

Ingrid Mason, Senior Manager, National Film and Sound Archive Australia
Linda Matthews, Co-Director, UTS Visualisation Institute & Associate Head of the School of Architecture, University of Technology, Sydney
Bree Trevena, Australasia Foresight Leader, Arup Australia & Tobias Revell, Design Futures Lead at Arup Foresight, UK

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries, societies, and cultures, we face a critical challenge: how to ensure these systems are designed with care, equity, and sustainability in mind. Designing Futures is a bold new series of public events exploring how we design from, with, and by data to create meaningful, ethical pathways for AI.

We’re thrilled to announce that the inaugural event of this groundbreaking series will take place as part of the Future of Arts, Culture & Technology Symposium (FACT 2025), hosted by ACMI. This partnership situates Designing Futures within FACT’s forward-looking themes of AI/automation, infrastructure, climate, and changing audiences—providing a perfect platform to ignite fresh conversations about the intersections of technology, culture, and design.

Full FACT two day Symposium ticket $198 at https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/fact-2025/#tickets

Plus a link to all workshops: https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/fact-2025/#workshops

No Harm Done add-on event ticket $25 (includes drink voucher):
Register for No Harm Done via invoice
Register for No Harm Done via credit card

Tickets strictly limited.

Any remaining tickets will be released to non-FACT registrants will be released on Monday 10 February.

Previous events

No Harm Done began in Edinburgh in October 2023 through a collaboration between strategic design company Nile, the Institute for Design Informatics and the Edinburgh Futures Institute.

The Melbourne meet-ups extend the network and community of like-minded people who are open to sharing insights to working responsibly with data-driven technologies.

No Harm Done #1 Melbourne

Ethics, Design, and AI

Thurs 13 February 2025, 6pm-7.30pm, ACMI, Melbourne

The inaugural Melbourne event, hosted between ACMI and RMIT is part of the ACMI’s Future of Arts, Culture & Technology Symposium (FACT 2025), the event sparked fresh conversations at the intersection of AI, climate, and evolving audiences.

Ingrid Mason, Senior Manager, National Film and Sound Archive Australia
Linda Matthews, Co-Director, UTS Visualisation Institute & Associate Head of the School of Architecture, University of Technology, Sydney
Bree Trevena, Australasia Foresight Leader, Arup Australia & Tobias Revell, Design Futures Lead at Arup Foresight, UK

Responsible Play

Learning by Doing with Generative AI

Wed 29 November 2023, 4pm-6pm, Inspace, Edinburgh

In a world where algorithms increasingly shape our decisions, how can we apply ideas from the humanities to avoid these systems becoming decision-making ‘black boxes’ – and ensure people are held to account when things go wrong?

At our first event, three experts from the worlds of academia, design and business gave lightning talks that looked beyond the code and examined the ethical and design underpinnings of AI, followed by an open discussion.

Speakers included:

Dr Lachlan Urquhart, Senior Lecturer in Technology Law and Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Edinburgh
Catriona Melton, Senior Associate – Intellectual Property & Technology, DLA Piper
Neil Collman, Design Director, Nile

Creative Business with AI

Wed 24 April 2024, 4pm-6pm, Nile, Circus Lane, Edinburgh

This session sought to disrupt conventional thinking and pave the way for an AI-powered future. Speakers from academia, business and design practice, together with a packed room, explored how we ensure the machines we build today become instruments for unbiased progress tomorrow.
Speakers included:
Bronwyn Jones, Researcher and Journalist, University of Edinburgh / BBC
Sam Healy, Creative Coder, Ray Interactive
Tiernan Haugh, Senior UX Designer, Nile

AI and Place

Wed 18 September 2024, 4pm-6.30pm, Edinburgh Futures Institute

At this event, speakers shared creative applications of AI they were working on and the challenges they’ve encountered along the way.

Ana Betancourt, co-founder of AI audio design startup Black Goblin, shared valuable lessons from building an AI platform designed for a specific professional market.
Javier Tejera, learning technologist at the University of Edinburgh, showcased creative uses of custom AI tools that are empowering educators with new ways of teaching and learning.
Adam Turner, Head of External Funding Services at The Data Lab, spoke about a gamechanging AI-powered medical device being built together with European partners.
Lloyd Vaughan, COO at strategic design consultancy Nile, showed how he’s using AI to automate business processes and simplify day-to-day tasks, as well as AI’s impact on policy and consulting.

Get in Touch

For any inquiries or collaborations, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

We are keen to answer your questions and hear about any subjects that you'd like featured in NHD events.

NHD partners:

Natasha Dwyer / Victoria University

Seb Chan / ACMI

Dan Hill / University of Melbourne
Bonnie Shaw / MAV

Jathan Sadowski / Monash University

Chris Speed & Lisa Given / RMIT University
Bree Trevena / Arup