Systematically incorporating equity into design thinking for AI education

Abstract

AI-powered systems increasingly influence critical aspects of daily life, yet these systems often embed and reinforce biases, disproportionately disadvantaging marginalized communities. Addressing these challenges requires a fundamental shift in how we teach the development of these systems, ensuring that future professionals develop not only technical expertise but also are equipped with the skills needed for ethical AI design. This paper adopts a design science research (DSR) approach to develop the equity-aware design thinking for AI (EquiThink4AI) framework, a dual-component model that systematically embeds equity principles into AI education. EquiThink4AI's first component extends design thinking (DT) by incorporating principles from EquityXDesign (EXD) and liberatory design (LD), ensuring that equity concerns are proactively addressed throughout AI system development. The second component enhances the framework with pedagogical strategies, including problem-based learning (PBL), experiential learning, and interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering student engagement, real-world problem-solving, and ethical reasoning. EquityThink4AI provides educators and students with a structured methodology for teaching and applying equity-centered AI development. This study is explorative in nature, yet it presents concrete strategies for integrating EquiThink4AI into AI curricula, bridging the gap between design, AI ethics, and educational practices.