guac design 🥑

Our design industry is rapidly changing and so many people are about to be left behind. AI is going to destroy design careers. Use it as a tool for now, but sooner than you think, design careers as we know will never be the same. Some of them needed to go anyways, but it's going to take so many more. If you think that's false, you should hear about all the ways design has changed in my 20+ year career. How many new design tools I had to learn. I was designing websites before there were iPhones. I was designing websites before we over complicated the process and needed teams of hundreds of people to make them. We already know change is coming. Change is constant. It's unwise to think otherwise. While some design leaders are embracing it, starting business around it, those that are not are getting further and further behind. And you won't notice it until it's too late. Then you'll rush to play catch up. Every website and product practically looks the same already. And we're ok with that. We're becoming ok with average looking stuff. We're ok with cookie cutter (it seems). It's proven. It works. It's fast. It's super easy to replicate. AI will only make it easier. The designers that can only replicate are going to be replicated themselves...by AI. Designers are so lost we're now on how to be creative, they result to exhausting everyone with motion everywhere possible to counteract the identical designs in an attempt to provide some level of uniqueness. We also have all these cliques in design now. The tool gurus. The Awwward chasers. The design founders. The design influencers. The UX-only club. The UI dreamers. The design reply guys here...and so many others. While we all use to be one, now everyone thinks they're better than the other but the only true king might soon be AI. So maybe, just maybe, we should all become one again? Stop fighting each other every day on this website and behind each others backs. No better time than now. AI is the new design leader. Even our design tools are attempting to take away majority of the process by designing for us. Sure, it's a tool to take advantage of now, but what happens next? We never wanted AI to design for us. We wanted AI to help us. Basically, use it to your advantage before it takes advantage of you. I fear for the average designer. That job is changing and that makes me sad. Design is the greatest job in the world. Especially when you're allowed to be creative with it. I'll never forget what one of my teachers told me in design school ages ago. They said, "Design is the best job in the world because I get to be creative all day." I've pursued my career with that mentality and I badly hope everyone reading this does too. We have our jobs now because these companies need profit. To get profit, they need design. To get design, they need us. But what happens when that changes? If you're early career or the average designer out there, maybe my advise right now is to master AI before it masters you? I don't know. But don't ignore it. And if you think I'm being fearful, dishonest, out of character, or whatever you want to call it - this is just me sharing my current thoughts just as I have done since 2009 here. If you hate it, feel free to unfollow and leave. This is my Twitter account. Not yours. If you're building a product with AI and want to quote to me with your shoulders held back and head high, cool. We're looking at you to teach how to shift the career of the next generation designers. Not just bulldozing for profit. I don't hate AI. I embrace it. I challenge it. It AIn't taking my job anytime soon and it won't yours if you learn to adapt when necessary.