YEAWON CHOI

I am a designer and creative lead currently employed at Google.
I’ve spent the last seven years inside Google, evolving from a product mechanic to a cultural architect.

It started in the trenches of Google Maps, spending three years designing core Design Systems for Map’s Business Profile and launched core products like Map’s first Business Messaging, and design UX for flagging Malicious Maps Reviews while working alongside data raters to train the early version of this harms detection models on Maps platform, back when 'AI safety' was just a moderation ticket.

Later, I moved to Google AI Research under Blaise Agüera y Arcas. This was the pre-ChatGPT era, a quiet time that allowed for deep, theoretical inquiry. I spent three years designing the UX and behavioral frameworks for Personal AI Agents and exploring the theoretical edges of Agentic Orchestration and Ambient Computing.

Most of the advanced yet poignant experiments were ahead of their time - eventually swallowed by the shifting tides of the Google Brain and DeepMind merger. But those research-prototypes defined my understanding of how artificial intelligence actually lives and breathes.

Currently I operate in the friction point between Technology & Society. I lead creative direction for artist collaborations, such as ‘Alternative Images of AI’, ‘Generative furniture with Ross Lovegrove’, as well as building the UX for generative creative tools like ‘Flow (Veo)’ and the ‘Music AI Sandbox’.

I am deeply interested in AI policy. Law moves slowly, AI moves so fast. To bridge that gap, and bring the hypothetical AI conversations into our daily life, I founded 'AI on Screen’ - a Cultural Sandbox - where we work with filmmakers to visualise how to be human at the age of AI, giving policymakers concrete artifacts to debate before the reality hits. In 2025, I produced ‘Sweetwater(2025)’, the first original slate from the programme.

Previously to Google, I spent four years at a design agency - Native Design. I worked in an interdisciplinary physical-digital design team, pursuing the highest bar of design craft. This rigor culminated in projects like the Lincoln 2030 Concept Car, a vision of autonomy that I believe remains relevant today.

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Get in touch. yeawonchoi@gmail.com