The Uncomfortable Truth About Our AI Romance

‍
Everyone’s talking about how AI is “revolutionizing” design. Designer Twitter is flooded with posts about Midjourney magic and ChatGPT breakthroughs. Conference speakers promise AI will make us “10x more productive.”
Here’s what nobody’s telling you: AI isn’t making design better. It’s making it more chaotic.
And the data backs this up in ways that might surprise you.
‍

The Productivity Myth That’s Fooling Everyone

Let me start with the most shocking research finding of 2025. Stanford researchers ran a controlled study with experienced developers using cutting-edge AI tools. The prediction? AI would reduce completion time by 24%.
The reality? AI actually increased completion time by 19%.

‍
Yes, you read that right. Despite all the hype, AI tools slowed down experienced professionals. Even experts in economics and machine learning got it wrong, predicting 38-39% time savings that never materialized.
This isn’t an isolated finding. While surveys show that 78% of designers believe AI significantly enhances work efficiency, only 32% say they can actually rely on AI output.

‍That gap? That’s where the real story lives.
As I explored in whether UX design is still worth pursuing, the field is evolving in unexpected ways. AI is part of that evolution, but not in the way most people think.

‍

‍
The Curation Crisis Nobody Talks About

Here’s what’s really happening in design studios across the world. Designers are generating more content than ever before. Midjourney pumps out dozens of variations in minutes. ChatGPT writes copy faster than any human could type.
But generating isn’t designing.
The real work now happens in the space between AI output and human judgment. Designers spend hours sifting through AI-generated options, trying to separate signal from noise. We’ve traded creation time for curation time.
Research from Finnish design professionals reveals this shift clearly:

“The primary motivation for AI tool usage was to alleviate manual cognitive tasks,”

but designers increasingly report that AI requires more oversight, not less.

‍

‍
The Skills We’re Actually Losing

While everyone celebrates AI’s creative potential, we’re quietly losing fundamental design capabilities.

Sketching is dying. Why struggle with a rough concept when Midjourney can generate polished visuals instantly? But those rough sketches weren’t just communication tools—they were thinking tools. When we skip the sketching process, we skip the thinking process.

Strategic thinking is getting lazy. AI tools excel at tactical execution but they’re terrible at strategic insight. Yet designers are increasingly letting AI drive conceptual direction rather than using it as an implementation tool.

Client relationships are suffering. When AI can generate 50 logo variations overnight, clients expect infinite revisions. The collaborative design process that builds trust and understanding? It’s being replaced by an expectation of instant gratification.

‍
Italian design research confirms this concern:

“AI is barely implemented during the creative stages of the design process, such as the concept phase”

‍—yet that’s exactly where human strategic thinking matters most.+

‍

‍
Where AI Actually Helps (Hint: It’s Not Where You Think)

Don’t get me wrong—AI has genuine value in design. But it’s not in the places everyone’s focusing on.

AI excels at research synthesis. Instead of generating pretty pictures, use AI to analyze user feedback patterns, synthesize interview transcripts, or identify trends across large data sets.

AI shines in accessibility testing. Tools that automatically check color contrast, suggest alt text, or identify usability issues? That’s where AI adds real value without replacing human creativity.

AI works for technical documentation. Writing design system guidelines, creating component specifications, or generating style guides? AI handles these tasks well because they’re systematic and rule-based.
Research from multiple studies shows that AI provides the biggest productivity gains for beginners, not experts. This suggests AI’s real value isn’t in replacing skilled judgment—it’s in democratizing basic capabilities.

‍
The Collaboration Paradox

Here’s the strangest finding from recent AI research: AI is making design more collaborative, not less.
Teams using AI tools report spending more time in discussions, not fewer.

‍

Why? Because AI output needs human interpretation, context, and strategic direction. What looks like efficiency gains in tool usage actually gets redistributed into more meetings, more reviews, and more collaborative decision-making.
This connects to broader changes in how companies evaluate design work.

As I discussed in the saturated job market reality, employers now prioritize strategic thinking over execution speed.

‍

The Future Nobody’s Preparing For

While everyone’s debating whether AI will replace designers, the real transformation is more subtle and more profound.
Design is becoming editorial. The core skill isn’t creating from scratch—it’s curating, refining, and contextualizing AI output. Think art director, not illustrator.
Prompt engineering is the new typography.

Just as typography became a core design skill in the digital age, prompt crafting is becoming essential for working with AI tools.
System thinking trumps pixel pushing. When AI can handle visual execution, human value moves to understanding how design fits into broader business and user contexts.

‍
What This Means for Your Career

If you’re building your career around AI execution skills, you’re building on quicksand. The real opportunity lies in developing the capabilities AI can’t replicate:
Strategic insight. Understanding why a design solution works, not just what looks good.
Human empathy. Reading between the lines of user research, understanding emotional nuance, connecting design decisions to human needs.
System architecture. Designing how pieces fit together across products, platforms, and experiences.
Quality judgment. Developing the taste to distinguish excellent AI output from mediocre garbage.

‍
‍

The Bottom Line: Embrace the Chaos

AI isn’t making design more efficient. It’s making it more complex. And that’s actually an opportunity.
While everyone chases AI shortcuts, the designers who thrive will be those who understand AI’s limitations and focus on uniquely human capabilities. They’ll use AI for what it does well while doubling down on strategic thinking, system design, and collaborative problem-solving.
‍
The future belongs to designers who can navigate complexity, not eliminate it.
‍
Stop trying to make AI solve all your design problems. Start using it to free up mental space for the problems only humans can solve.

‍

References
- Becker, J., Rush, N., Barnes, E., & Rein, D. (2025). Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity. arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.09089. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.09089
- Figma. (2025, April 23). Figma’s 2025 AI report: Perspectives From Designers and Developers. Retrieved from https://www.figma.com/blog/figma-2025-ai-report-perspectives/
- Kalving, M., et al. (2024). Where AI and Design Meet - Designers’ Perceptions of AI Tools. NordiCHI 2024. Retrieved from https://lacris.ulapland.fi/ws/portalfiles/portal/40696061/Where_AI_and_Design_Meet_-_Designers_Perceptions_of_AI_Tools.pdf
- Figoli, F. A., Mattioli, F., & Rampino, L. (2022). Artificial intelligence in the design process: The Impact on Creativity and Team Collaboration. Retrieved from https://re.public.polimi.it/bitstream/11311/1204154/6/Completo.pdf
- OECD. (2025, July 7). Unlocking productivity with generative AI: Evidence from experimental studies. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/en/blogs/2025/07/unlocking-productivity-with-generative-ai-evidence-from-experimental-studies.html

‍

‍