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.

One year ago today, I was laid off from Vernier Science Education. I've thought about how to write that sentence for a while. Whether to soften it, contextualize it, lead with something else. But it's the fact at the center of this post, and it deserves to just be said.

My case studies were good. They were detailed, well-structured, and told the story of each project clearly. The problem was they didn't talk to each other — and nobody could see the thread connecting them.