Conversations on the topic of AI

AI is everywhere. On the train overhearing a conversation, on the news, and maybe most apparent in my everyday job as a designer.

To dig a bit deeper in how this is affecting the field of design, I have in the last weeks conducted conversations with top tier people in tech and design regarding the topic of AI. How is it affecting you in your profession? How are you adapting? And where is this going? I had conversations with six people I trust and admire; a senior developer, a business designer, a in finance, and three design experts.

Design and AI, some Preliminary Thoughts

After the conversations, I'm left with a sense that we're not necessarily facing a dramatic shift in jobs, but rather a shift in how we work. I don't think designers are going anywhere anytime soon. But the role is changing. AI feels less like a replacement and more like a tool, or perhaps a partner. At the same time, it feels important to hold on to the idea that the craft of design is still fundamentally human. The result feels different when it's actually made by someone, not just generated.

AI and the Emotional

One of the people mentioned a story from a talk she attended: First, a video was shown of an item jumping mechanically up and down. The audience was asked whether they would react negatively if it had been made with AI. Nobody did. Then a more emotional advertisement was shown. When the same question was posed, whether it mattered that it was made with AI, many people reacted.

It makes me wonder: Do we accept AI as long as it's superficial or functional, but feel a kind of resistance when something tries to reach us emotionally? Does a form of distrust arise, or perhaps even a feeling of being "tricked", when we discover that something that moves us wasn't created by a human?

Being "Tricked" by AI

An example comes to mind: a manager who found a song on Spotify that he genuinely loved. When he discovered it was AI-generated, he was sincerely disappointed. Almost offended that he had let himself be swept up in it.

It's interesting – because the experience itself was real in the moment. But the value of it changed in retrospect, once the origin was revealed. What does that say about how we evaluate creativity and authenticity?

Will This Change?

At the same time, it's hard not to think that this might be a temporary reaction.

What happens when:

• AI becomes more widespread

• It becomes harder (or impossible) to tell what was made by AI versus humans

• New generations grow up with this as the norm

Will we stop caring? Or will the need for the human touch become even stronger?

Differentiation and the Human Element

A recurring thought is that the emotional dimension might become even more important going forward. If much of what is produced with AI starts to look alike, the ability to stand out becomes crucial.

This raises several questions:

• Does branding matter more than before?

• Is it primarily identity and expression that needs to be differentiated?

• Or does this apply to the services and experiences themselves as well?

Perhaps it's no longer enough to make something that "works", it also needs to feel genuine, clear, and distinct.

AI in practice right Now

For now, AI seems to be used mostly as support for bouncing off ideas, for structuring thoughts and for creating frameworks, like workshops or questions. Not necessarily as a direct producer of the design itself. If it is, it in this moment require a lot of redesigning and touch up before it is rolled out to the developers.

For after thoughts

Perhaps the core of all this is: If AI can make something that looks good and works, what is it that actually makes design valuable? Is it the process, the intention, the sender, or the feeling it creates? And what happens to that value when we no longer know who (or what) is behind it?

Cloud (1822) painting by John Constable. Original public domain image from Yale Center for British Art.