Something is happening in the design industry right now that I can't stop thinking about. Junior designers are being laid off — not because their work is bad, not because they aren't talented, but because companies have decided that AI can do what they do. I want to talk about why that's wrong. And I want to talk to the junior designers who are navigating this, because they deserve more than a LinkedIn post telling them to "learn prompt engineering."

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.