By: Ola Bonati
Part of State of Responsible Tech 2025, Generative Things
Bonati, O. (2025). From Generative to Re-generative technologies: empowering creatives to adapt regenerative practices. In RIOT 2025, State of Responsible Tech – Generative Things (pp. 71-74). Stichting ThingsCon Amsterdam
https://thingscon.org/publications/riot-2025/riot-2025-from-generative-to-re-generative-technologies-empowering-creatives-to-adapt-regenerative-practices/
Abstact (generated):
This essay critiques the dominant discourse of generative AI by foregrounding the ecological contradictions and extractivist foundations of contemporary computational technologies. Bonati argues that while “generative” technologies promise innovation, their material dependencies and energy demands often exacerbate planetary crises such as e-waste, carbon emissions, and digital colonialism. The paper proposes a shift toward regenerative design—drawing from permaculture and the permacomputing movement—as a framework for rethinking technological development through systemic, ecological, and ethical lenses. Through practical examples and design principles, the author advocates for creative practices that value maintenance over innovation, embrace constraint over excess, and prioritize long-term resilience over short-term productivity. Regenerativity is framed not only as a design orientation, but as a cultural mindset that resists techno-solutionism and fosters situated, collective care for human and more-than-human worlds. By engaging creatives in alternative pathways such as repair culture, low-tech making, and critical refusal, this essay contributes to the emerging field of post-growth design for technological futures.