Design X AI - 08

WHAT DO I DO NOW?

It is my view that designers should engage with AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, KREA, Vizcom, and others with fervent curiosity, healthy skepticism, and an honest, human-centered design process. AI is here to stay, and through my research, I’ve come to the conclusion that it isn’t making the world a better place.

Avoiding AI is not a powerful boycott that will reduce its influence, but a willful exclusion of our skills, mindset, and contribution to the collective conversation about what the future should look like. As designers, we are living in a time when our empathy and vision for a brighter world are needed more than ever.

Be the best at using AI in a true design process so that it won’t take your job. Know its strengths so that you know its weaknesses. We must steelman the use of AI in design. Then when the shoe drops, and the pains hit sharply across the world as AI optimizes our systems and leverages our data against us for profit and power, we will be ready.

When this system begins to break down, and new problems and suffering arise, it will be designers and creators who must stand with authority, empathy, and vision to build a more equitable and sustainable future. A future for mankind.

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DESIGN X AI is an 8 part blog series written 100% by my fallible human brain. I’m a designer, not an AI expert.