Master of Artificial Intelligence for Design and Creative Practice
2026 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2026 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Master of Artificial Intelligence for Design and Creative Practice |
| Course Credit Points | 16 |
| Deakin course code | A733 |
| Course version | 1 |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts and Education |
| Course Information | For students who commenced from 2026 onwards |
| Campus | Offered at Burwood (Melbourne) |
| Online | No |
| Duration | 2 years full-time or part-time equivalent |
| Course Map - enrolment planning tool | This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 2 2026 Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central. |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9 |
| Supplementary Information | New course available for intake from Trimester 2, 2026 |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Mandatory student checks
- Pathways
- Alternative exits
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Work experience
- Research and research-related study
- Fees and charges
Course overview
Deakin's Master of Artificial Intelligence for Design and Creative Practice puts you at the forefront of the creative AI shift. Get ready to build the skills to understand, evaluate and apply generative AI in creative professional contexts.
This pioneering master’s, the first of its kind in Australia, is designed for ambitious creatives looking to evaluate and responsibly integrate where and how AI enhances creative workflows. Through supported hands-on learning you will apply GenAI models, prototype ethically, and iterate on ideas that integrate AI with human creative judgement across professional practice.
Deakin’s world-class research in AI feeds directly into our classrooms, ensuring what you learn reflects current industry change and emerging practice.
Job opportunities are accelerating as AI becomes embedded in everyday creative workflows and organisations increasingly value human insight with AI practice. Already, two-thirds of hiring leaders say they won’t hire creatives without AI capability. This degree ensures you’re not just employable, but in demand.
You will graduate ahead of the pack, with interdisciplinary capabilities that go beyond narrow technical skills, enabling you to engage confidently across creative and analytical contexts. You will also develop the ability to work with AI in thoughtful and transparent ways that responsibly build trust with peers, clients, and industry.
These skills open doors across creative and design-focused careers, particularly in roles that combine creative direction, systems thinking, and AI-enabled decision-making. Whether your current practice is centered in architecture and the built environment, film and media, any design disciplines or emerging hybrid creative practices, you will learn to work with AI in practical, meaningful ways applicable to professional creative workflows.
Ready to lead creative practice transparently in the age of AI?
The Master of Artificial Intelligence for Design and Creative Practice explores where AI comes from, how it can help and challenge, and the social and professional responsibilities that accompany its use.
Core areas of study will help you master social, cultural, and intellectual property considerations of novel creative industry, such as:
- Applying GenAI in Creative Practice
- Design Strategies
- Creative use of GenAI in industry
By applying GenAI in context through authentic, industry-informed scenarios you will critically evaluate, decide, and then push the boundaries of AI in creative practice through:
- Guided workshops
- Collaborative studios
- Ethical labs
- Industry-informed briefs.
As you progress, you will test ideas, reflect on your practice and sharpen your thinking through industry and peer feedback. Along the way you will build real technical proficiency, principled reasoning, and creative confidence.
You will hear from emerging talent in industry, network, build peer communities, and learn from accomplished academics who are leaders in this emerging field. Access Deakin’s world-class, purpose-built facilities and build future-focused skills that move your career forward and push creative practice at this exciting time of change.
Optional work integrated learning opportunities include internships, placements or partnerships with creative studios, technology companies and cultural organisations – you will be making real industry connections while you study.
The course culminates in a research project or thesis, where you will investigate how AI is transforming research methods in your chosen discipline.
Graduates head into some of the most exciting roles emerging across creative and digital industries, from Creative Technology Lead, Responsible AI or Ethics Lead to Senior Digital Experience Strategist .
Career opportunities
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the creative industry. Across Australia, job ads requiring AI skills have increased more than tenfold over the past decade, with growing demand for creatives who can combine AI capability with design thinking, strategy and ethical judgement.
As a graduate, you will have the specialist knowledge to become a sought-after professional in a range of roles, including:
- AI Governance & Practice Standards Advisor
- AI-Informed Creative Director
- Creative Director (Emerging & Synthetic Media)
- Creative Research Lead
- Creative Systems Director
- Creative Technologist
- Creative Technology Lead
- Digital Design Director
- Digital Research Specialist
- Digital Strategy & Innovation Manager
- Emerging Technology & Adoption Lead
- Futures & Foresight Consultant (Creative & Cultural Sectors)
- Generative & Computational Design Lead
- Generative Pre-Production Director
- Innovation & Practice Strategy Lead
- Interactive Narrative Lead
- Narrative & Story Systems Lead
- Responsible AI & Ethics Lead (Creative Industries)
- Scenario & Strategy Advisor (Media & AI)
- Senior Digital Experience Strategist
- Virtual Production Creative Lead.
For more information go to DeakinTALENT.
Participation requirements
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.
Mandatory student checks
Any unit which contains work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, Working with Children Check or other check.
Pathways
This course aims to attract three streams of student intake.
The first is industry professionals seeking to upskill with genAI, to enable creative practitioners to take a leadership role to respond to the uncertainty as well as the opportunities presented by genAI.
The second is undergraduate students from diverse creative disciplines who are seeking to develop the knowledge and skills to be able to work innovatively with the affordances of genAI, enabling them to take positions of leadership in creative industries. These students will be required to complete the 8cp Masters program.
The final stream of students are international students who will come from varied backgrounds and be required to complete the 16cp Masters program.
Alternative exits
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Integrate genAI ethically and responsibly to critically identify potential efficiencies and enhanced processes in alignment with the role of genAI in design and creative research and practice. |
| Communication | Communicate effectively across oral, written, and multimedia formats to inform, inspire, and influence creative decision making in the use and implementation of genAI in design and creative practice. |
| Digital literacy | Take a responsible and ethical human centred approach to source, evaluate and shape genAI use in ways that aligns with innovative best practice in design and creative industries. |
| Critical thinking | Apply critical and analytical thinking to make ethical and informed decisions that respond to the changing environment of using genAI in research, design or creative practice. |
| Problem solving | Use genAI to develop innovative and creative solutions to authentic and real-world problems endemic to design and creative practice. |
| Self-management | Develop critical insights in relation to own practice and exercise judgement in relation to planning, executing and delivering design and creative projects of a professional standard. |
| Teamwork | Collaborate effectively with others to explore the use of genAI in applied design and creative practice, including the identification of responsible and creative contribution to project outcomes. |
| Global citizenship | Reflect on place, culture and history with respectful consideration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledges and perspectives when undertaking design and creative practice |
Approved by Faculty Board October 2026
Course rules
To complete the Master of Artificial Intelligence for Design and Creative Practice, you must pass 8 or 16 credit points. The number of credit points required may vary, depending on your entry point or how much credit you receive as recognition of prior learning (RPL) based on your professional experience and previous qualifications.
A 16-credit point Master of Artificial Intelligence for Design and Creative Practice includes:
- DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in your first study period
- 10 credit points of core units
- 4 credit points of research capstone units
- 2 credit points of course elective units
Most units are equal to one credit point. As a full-time student you will study four credit points per trimester and usually undertake two trimesters per year.
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.
Course structure
Core units
Compulsory 0-credit point module
To be completed in the first trimester of study:
| DAI001 | Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin |
Units
| ACG703 | Design Systems |
| ACG706 | Design for the Digital World |
| ACG708 | Design Strategies |
| ACI700 | Digital Art and Photography |
| AID701 | GenAI Impact on Design and Creative Processes |
| AID702 | Applying GenAI in Creative Practice |
| AID703 | Creative Use of GenAI in Industry |
| AID704 | GenAI in Creative Research |
| ALC702 | Making Sense of Communities Online |
| ALC708 | Social Media Content Creation |
Research units
| ACA703 | Advanced Creative Research Project A (2 credit points) |
| ACA704 | Advanced Creative Research Project B (2 credit points) |
Elective units
| ACC700 | Communication and Creative Arts Internship |
| SIT718 | Real World Analytics |
| SIT719 | Analytics for Security and Privacy |
| SIT771 | Object-Oriented Development |
| SIT787 | Mathematics for Artificial Intelligence |
| MIS716 | Artificial Intelligence Strategies and Enterprise Applications |
| MIS780 | Advanced Artificial Intelligence for Business |
Work experience
This course integrates work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities to deepen students’ professional experience and enhance employability. Compulsory components include industry-informed project briefs and collaborative studio work that simulate real-world creative challenges, enabling students to apply generative AI tools within authentic contexts.
Optional WIL experiences may involve internships, placements, or partnerships with creative studios, technology companies, or cultural organizations, providing direct exposure to professional environments where students can refine their skills, expand networks, and gain industry insights.
Assessment
Assessment will take place at the unit level and has been designed to ensure successful attainment of all 8 Course Learning Outcomes and corresponding Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes over the duration of the course. In particular, assessment of the core units focuses the application of skills and knowledge to produce work that reflects industry practices and standards.
Course duration
You may be able to study available units in the optional third trimester to fast- track your degree, however your course duration may be extended if there are delays in meeting course requirements, such as completing a placement.
Research and research-related study
Independent research components are embedded across a number of units.
Fees and charges
Tuition fees will vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, your study load and/or unit discipline.
Your tuition fees will increase annually at the start of each calendar year. All fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD) and do not include additional costs such as textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment, mandatory checks, travel, consumables and other costs.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.
Further information
Contact Student Central for assistance in course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements. Student Central can also provide information for a wide range of services at Deakin. To help you understand the University vocabulary, please refer to our Enrolment codes and terminology page.