The designer’s role in the AI era
AI isn’t here to take our jobs, but to elevate those. It’s here to help us explore new opportunities, go beyond what we used to think design could be, and push our creativity further than ever. Designers are not going anywhere.
Recently, we attended GrandOne AI Day, and it was truly inspiring. With AI growing at lightning speed, becoming faster, easier to use, and integrated into almost every tool we rely on, it’s natural to worry about the future of creative professions like design. But this event didn’t feel scary at all. It felt comforting, exciting, and full of potential.
Can AI do my job?
Some talk about AI as if it were a living being gaining awareness and preparing to take over every creative field. But AI isn’t alive. It doesn’t think, feel, or understand. It doesn’t know what beauty is. It doesn’t get humor. It doesn’t feel the user’s frustration. It doesn’t understand why something “just feels right”.
AI is a powerful tool, but still just a tool. It works with the data it has, nothing more. It has no intention, no vision, no story to tell. But we do. And our human input is needed more than ever to stand out in a world quickly filling up with AI-generated content.
If you’ve ever created an image with a basic prompt, you know what happens: You type: “cat in a living room, cozy.” And it gives you a cat in a room that is somewhat cozy, but slightly strange – maybe the cat has five legs or curtains growing out of nowhere. But when you guide it, describe the mood, colors, shapes, and atmosphere, it starts producing something meaningful. When a designer steps in to refine it, fix issues, and choose what works and what doesn’t, it becomes truly unique.
AI needs direction, vision, and taste. Without that, it’s just guessing. So no, it can’t do your job. But it can help you do it better!
Inspiring use cases from GrandOne AI Day
The event was full of examples that showed how designers and teams are already using AI to achieve something bigger and more exciting than before.
Generating user personas from real data
We can now feed real behavior, demographics, metrics, or user insights into AI to create realistic personas. This lets us simulate how real people might react to our solutions before we build them.
AI-based image and video production
Want to shoot a winter campaign in July? No need to chase snow anymore. AI can generate entire scenes without travel, huge budgets, or complicated logistics. Creative possibilities become unlimited.
AI-assisted models
AI-supported models already exists and look incredibly real. This doesn’t replace real people; it expands what is possible in advertising.
Personal fashion assistants
AI can now help you choose an outfit for a Christmas party or suggest which shoes to buy, ensuring your new look complements what you already own perfectly. Design meets personal lifestyle in a surprisingly intuitive way.
AI nutrition helpers
Imagine pointing your phone at lunch and instantly knowing it’s balanced and healthy. It’s a simple example of how design, AI, and well-being can come together so support daily life.
The key message was clear: AI is our assistant, enabling us to build new products, design interfaces, and come up with features we hadn’t even thought of. Exciting!
What does the future designer look like?
What we saw during GrandOne AI Day wasn’t a profession disappearing. It was a profession expanding.
The future designer is:
- A director guiding AI’s output
- A curator choosing the best direction
- A storyteller adding meaning
- A human who understands other humans
- A creative mind using different tools to bring ideas to life faster than ever
AI gives us the chance to go beyond what we used to think design could be. It unlocks speed, scale, experimentation, play, and possibility. It pushes us toward more thoughtful, human-centered work. And that’s a future worth looking forward to.
You’re not being replaced, you’re being upgraded
Design has always been more than execution. It is interpretation. Curiousity. Awareness. Decision-making. Care.
AI gives us new tools, but it still needs human to steer the ship. Designers who learn how to guide AI will do more, create more, and bring more value than ever before.
So whenever the future feels uncertain, remember this: AI isn’t taking your place. It’s giving you more space to imagine, to create, and to design the world in ways we never could before.
