HX–37 / TXT–DT–01
DNT: ANTI-AI PATIENT GOWN + AI OPT-OUT CONSENT & BAND
archived in
2045
Function
Privacy-disruptive patient garment and non-AI care consent protocol
This tri-component kit (colloquially known as “DNT wear” (Do Not Track) was issued to patients exercising their legal right to receive human-only care in AI-assisted clinical environments.
1
A disposable gown embedded with anti-recognition visual interference, engineered to scramble AI tracking and facial recognition systems.
2
A non-digital wristband, signaling the opt-out status to clinical staff.
3
A paper-based opt-out consent form, outlining implications of non-participation, risk of delayed diagnosis and the potential for higher costs.
This sequence of sign, band and gown became ritual. A quiet performance of refusal. Rooted in the Human Care Assurance Clause of 2036, the kit preserved an analog corridor within a digitized system. It was care without capture designed to leave no biometric trail, no voiceprint, no behavioral telemetry.
curator’s note
THE DNT KIT WASN’T ANTI-CARE. IT WAS CARE ON HUMAN TERMS. IT INSISTED THAT PRIVACY COULD COEXIST WITH COMPASSION. THAT OPTING OUT WASN’T OBSTRUCTION, BUT A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUST.
Statistically rare, yet symbolically immense, the DNT kit posed a core question of the ambient information era:
What does it mean to be seen by a human, and only a human?
Divergence from present
How radically this artifact departs from current healthcare norms, systems, or societal expectations.
Scale:
1 = Feels like today
10 = Requires a major paradigm shift
Mainstream adoption
How widely the artifact appears to have been adopted in its own speculative future.
Scale:
1 = Rare/fringe/experimental
10 = Wide/normalized
As AI advances, every industry will face a harder question than “what can we automate?”
This artifact asks us to name what must remain sacred: The conversations, decisions or moments that shouldn’t be outsourced—not because machines can’t do them, but because they shouldn’t.
— What must remain human, no matter what?
— Where in your business would you draw the line?
What this demands of us
CURATORS
Heather Benoit is Director of Foresight and Innovation Design at Langrand, where she helps organizations imagine, design and make decisions in the present to realize more resilient futures. With a background in biomedical engineering and systems design, she combines analytical rigor with creative strategy.
Denise Worrell leads the Transformation and Experience Design practices at Langrand, using foresight and design to help organizations anticipate and navigate change. She also serves as an adjunct professor of foresight at the University of Houston and on the Design in Health Advisory Council at UT Austin.
INFO
This archive isn’t about forecasting the future—it’s about shaping it. Each artifact is a tool to spark conversation, challenge assumptions and stretch the imagination around what feels possible. Some feel likely. Others push the edge.
Designed for teams navigating complexity, these provocations help surface blind spots, shift perspectives and drive more intentional decision-making. They’re meant to question dominant narratives, fuel collective imagination and co-create systems that are not just improved, but radically redesigned with people at the center.
These artifacts aren’t about certainty—they’re starting points, an invitation to imagine boldly and lead like the future depends on it. Because foresight isn’t about guessing what’s next, it’s about choosing the future you want to build and beginning that work now.