If you've read How I Use AI as a Design Tool, you already know where I stand on AI in the design industry — and I have a lot more to say on the economic side of things in an upcoming post. But "it's just a tool" isn't specific enough to be useful — because what that tool does for you depends entirely on where you are in your career. A hammer means something different in the hands of someone framing a house for the first time and someone who's been building for twenty years. Same tool, completely different relationship.

The conversation around AI in design tends to collapse into one of two extremes: it's either going to replace us all, or it's a gimmick not worth your time. I've landed somewhere in the middle — which is where most useful tools actually live.

Tuesday morning I had a job interview that went well. By noon, my iMac was dead. By evening, I had configured a Mac Studio M4 Max. That's a lot of emotional range for one Tuesday.

Somewhere in my attic storage, in a plastic storage box, in jewel cases, were a stack of 100mb and 250mb Zip discs I burned in the late 1990s. And in a separate wooden box, some CD-Rs also burned in the 1990s. I knew they existed. I just hadn't thought about what was actually on them — until now.

I must like stress. During my last go around at school, I took very demanding Multimedia courses at Bradley. I did it again during the last few terms at PCC.