I write to think.
Sometimes to argue.

The same argument, a different decade.

When computers arrived in offices, the fear was instant and loud: machines will replace human workers. The reality? Computers didn't replace us. They multiplied us. Every spreadsheet, every report, every design file — things that once took days now took hours. And we used those saved hours to do more, think bigger, build better.

AI is the same argument in a bigger coat. Yes, it's more powerful. Yes, it moves faster. Yes, it touches more industries, more roles, more daily tasks than any technology before it. But the fundamental question is the same one your parents and grandparents faced at their desks decades ago: do you pick it up, or do you wait for it to pass? Spoiler: it won't pass.

The handshake nobody's talking about.

There's a debate happening right now — in design circles, in LinkedIn feeds, in company townhalls — about whether AI is a threat or an opportunity. I think that's the wrong question entirely. The right question is: what happens when you actually use it?

I've used AI tools regularly across my work — ChatGPT for thinking out loud, Claude for long-form writing and reasoning, Figma AI and Figma Make for rapid concept generation. And here's what I found: the initial thought is always mine. The direction, the taste, the judgment call — that's still 100% human. What AI does is compress the time between my idea and something I can show someone. That's not a small thing. That's the whole game.

What it actually looks like in practice.

Here's a real scenario. I have a concept in my head for a new dashboard layout. Communicating that concept used to mean hours of wireframing — sometimes a full day to produce three or four options well enough to share with stakeholders. With AI-assisted tools, I can go from idea to rough concept in minutes. Not perfect. Not final. But good enough to get a reaction, test a direction, and move faster through the approval cycle. The design judgment is still mine — I'm choosing what to prompt, what to keep, what to throw away.

Think of it as having a very fast intern who never sleeps and never argues. You still need to know what you want. You still need to know good work when you see it. But the grunt work — the repetitive, mechanical part of bringing an idea to life — that gets faster. A lot faster.

A word to fellow designers.

I've heard designers say they don't use AI because it feels like cheating. I understand the instinct — there's pride in craft, and there should be. But using AI to generate a first concept is no different from using a template, a UI kit, or a pattern library. You're not outsourcing your judgment — you're accelerating the process of applying it. The quality of the thinking is what the client is hiring you for. Not the hours you spent moving boxes around a canvas. Use it openly. Don't hide it.

For the designers genuinely worried about being replaced: the ones most at risk are the ones waiting for AI to prove itself. The ones safest are already using it, already learning its limits, already developing the judgment to direct it well. Get in early. That's always the move.

The only wrong answer is waiting.

AI will keep improving. The tools will get sharper. But the gap that matters — between a prompt and a great design, between a request and a right answer — will always be filled by a person with taste, experience, and a point of view. That's you. That's your value. AI doesn't replace that. It amplifies it. Shake hands with it. I did. My work is better for it.