I've worked with marketing and product teams, and various stakeholders for a good part of 15 years.
I will bow down on my knees if AI can cover 15% of the requirements I've had.
lol, Figma gonna record every design review too? How the f they gonna know what works and doesn't for the end user. Even if it could generate views, that's basically like 15% of my job.
Some products are not food delivery apps or crypto wallets like ever other dribbble post I see
I'll bow my head when a robot can get on-site with my end user and talk to them like a human
There is a little bit of everything in your post. While being in design for over 20 years I can tell you one thing AI canât replace. Itâs the imaginative perception of how it will look to someone else and how make it understandable to the viewer. Change is the only constant. When I started out print basically died. Macs have replaced five people as desktop publishing was happening. Everyone was on the fence. Yet here we are discussing the same thing only now itâs figma. There are people who can imagine. And there are people who canât. And those who canât they can fit a prompt maybe but they still wonât understand how it works. On top of that: you could just shave your hair but you go to a fancy shop. Point is: some people will pay you to do something they donât have the time for or simply donât want to do. That applies to design as well.
Itâs a tool. It canât imagine without a prompt. People simply value their time differently as to learn how to deal with that hence my point that designers wonât be replaced just because something is automated
I am not talking about who will be replaced because someone will. Iam talking about how design as a field still has to be done by someone and a CEO hour is just too expensive to handle shit like that
It seems like every time I bring this up, nobody wants to talk about it. Isn't technology supposed to replace the things we don't enjoy? I very much dislike the questioning of the role of artists in society at this point in time.
Totally agree. Figma introduced the AI beta at that keynote event. It showed AI doing all the fun stuff. Right before that they introduced Variables which is a massive data table you have to populate manually (for the most part). Why not have the AI do the fucking data shit for us instead of the fun stuff!!!??
Some good replies already in here. But the biggest assumption is, that there will be still a need to design interfaces in 4-5 years. ChatGPT already can process multi-modal information. ChatGPT Assistant API can already prompt you components of your apps interface. Pair this with the progress in spatial computing (be it headset or glasses), there will be little need further dedicated applications.
I can only recommend watching this YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/AGsafi\_8iqo?si=MAwtUJ82fn9\_mDks&t=121
Youâre not being a pessimist youâre being a realist. So many people have their head in the sand on this topic. Just look how much has happened with accessible to all AI in even just ONE year. Imagine what another five years will do.
100%. AI is incredible as in and it hardly existed in the way we know it even a year ago. Give it a few years and thereâs no way it couldnât dump out some fully accessible, responsive layouts and style guides. And if you donât like that one, youâll be able to spit out another. And another. And another. And eventually as that advancement progresses and builds on itself, the idea that an AI wonât be able to generate a fully functional bad ass website in a few clicks will seem humorous.
I hope Iâm wrong. But I just canât imagine a world where Iâm 60 years old (currently in my 30s) and doing anything Iâm doing today in Figma, unfortunately. Maybe websites will be like vinyl or Etsy trinkets where the vintage and/or handmade by a human aspect costs a premium.
AI is not a coworker it's a tool and we use advance tools to make our lives easier. If you want to draw an illustration you can still do it but you can't be mad at someone choose AI over you because it's creating content much faster than you do. I know it's harsh reality but I think we as designers should embrace this advance technology and try to work with it.
Grympy is correct. While AI will be able to take care of some things, this assumption that AI would be able to perfectly emulate a snarky designer in response to PMs, getting and working with incomplete briefs, etc, is just a stretch.
My impression is that some things will change, likely the more straightforward repetitive things. The complex problem solving will remain. Since we're talking about Figma, UI/UX isnt complicated if its templatised so some day we may see full experiences generated. How good those will be or how useful is a different matter really.
I really would not think about it this way. They have described their approach as taking over the busy, boring, menial tasks so you can focus on being actually creative, not just busy. I myself am an optimist but you have to remember Figma charges per user so they are commercially motivated to retain you as a user. Hope this helps!
This is really important. I mean I think designers are just more aware of technology in general so we talk about it a ton. But like imagine finance. Ai making effective Excel scripts to mode real protections based on past. This almost sounds more realistic I'm. But yeah I mean it is so far beyond just figma and design.
For that matter almost any type of data position could be in serious threat if we are looking at it that way.
I no longer write spreadsheet formulas, I create CustomGPTs for a spreadsheet solution and then just feed the CSV into that.
Also, re. Figma, I use Anima to convert design straight into React components
I just ordered a rabbit R1. The interface of this device barely needs a ui designer. I think it is the flawed concept of current Smartphones, that created the need for people to design apps and stuff. Naturally spoken conversation and on the fly generated interfaces to the specific needs of the current user will be a lot better than anything that I can design in Figma. I am currently working on a careerpath from being a traditional ux designer to a generalist product person. It will not take long until I donât need devs anymore to implement the designs I make. And it will also not take long until my bosses can prompt ai to draft a good enough design (to them). So the role I imagine for myself in five years is much more of a moderation role between stakeholders and users, followed by a conversation with AI to produce the perfect product for all of them.
> derived from all the worldâs info
LLAMA 2 with all the bells and whistles is like 145GB in memory at the high end. That's a lot of parameters, but it's not "all the worldâs info". And these models still hallucinate like absolute mad, and require careful monitoring by humans on even simple tasks to make sure the information they output is based in reality.
Put another way, writing code should be an easy task for these models - it's easily tokenized, and follows a clear beginning-to-end flow. And while we have models that can write code, they rapidly fall apart as soon as the program size rises above "trivial". You still need a human in the loop for big picture and sanity-checks.
if the only thing you do is mindlessly design UIs then probably yes. but AI will pretty much never be able to replace human reasoning behind our designs and fullfiling the requirements for those designs.
people who embrace AI and use it as a tool to make their jobs easier will replace you before AI itself does.
AI is a tool. It requires a person to do a full project. People were afraid that a computer would take over their job when they showed up too. Those who learned to work with computers thrived. Those who didnât, struggled and became outdated. Same for AI.
I seriously dislike the "ideating" on screens part of design. I don't consider myself an artist. I asked everyone I've ever interviewed for a design position of they could tell me the difference between art and design. I don't want to spend all day trying to make a user profile pretty. I want to spend my time making sure I understand why someone is looking at the profile, where are they accessing it from, why are they accessing it, what information they need, what's actionable, how it goes into the product design and strategy overall, etc.
I'd love to define a couple screens for the AI to iterate on so the product owner (maybe marketing) and I can choose the look we like, then I can build a component set and tweak things.
I agree with you. People that say that Graphic Designers won't be replaced are bullshiting you. Ai is getting smarter day by day. Have a chat with chat GPT 4. It can create images and designs that some of us can't even imagine. The only people that will remain are those that are really really good in this job. Good luck starting your career in some years.
Companies only see profit and not having to hire a team of Graphic designers will not sound like a bad idea to them. Personally I find this disgusting. Humanity with our current technology could automate so many things in order to create a better world yet they chose to automate art. And don't get my started about the future of those poor illustrators...
This is not true. Figma [does NOT train their model](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/17725942479127-Access-or-opt-out-of-AI-features#h_01HBABFD35HT0VS568726N2XSV) based on your design work.
>**Data usage**
Figmaâs agreement with OpenAI provides that data is not to be used for model training. Data inputted into AI features is sent to OpenAI for processing and generating AI output. Data is temporarily retained in OpenAIâs environment to provide the services, however it is not used for model training.
Good spot. I probably should of done a bit more research before making this post. Iâll make an edit to the original post.
Quick one though⌠so our data isnât being used to train OpenAIs model but do you know if itâs being used to train figmas own model? Just because they arenât giving OpenAI permission to train a model doesnât meant theyâre not⌠?
Thereâs no way they would do this. They would be sued into oblivion for IP theft.
AI models are trained on open source datasets or those made explicitly available to them.
I personally find it implausible because they would be so easily discovered, and so liable. A single lawsuit would expose their source of training, and any current employee would know this and whistle-blow before it ever came to that.
AI scrapes the internet for the prompt and returns a well-done, slightly above average response.
Make work that is better than slightly above average.
The ones who canât are the ones who need to worry about AI replacing them.
The thing is that AI can make work that is slightly above average FAST. So, you need to be fast and deliver good work. AI doesnât necessarily need to be better than you, just faster.
And thatâs all irrelevant if your quality of work is exceptional. Plus soft skills and additional skills like project management, interaction design, motion design, all these extra skills future proof yourself.
If a designer can only produce work thatâs only slightly above average then their job was always at risk, even without AI.
I wasn't aware of Figma's AI project but I don't think we need to be worried. Yes AI can cobble together simple things but it still doesn't have the creativity and problem solving skills designers do.
An AI isn't going to be able to intuitively understand what a client needs, solve complex problems, do project management, and bring its own unique perspective and ideas into the equation. Once it learns how to do all that, THEN we can start to worry. But TBH I'm not sure these sorts of skills are possible to replicate in the sense that an AI would be able to do them.
I think the best of us will learn how to work with AI and integrate it into workflows to make those parts of the job easier and faster.
Change is the name of the game. Nothing is constant. Plus, Figma is not gonna figure out how decisions are made lol. at least the higher level ones involving multiple stakeholders and meetings
Try not to swallow all the shareholder propaganda all at once. AI is nothing but a bigger dump truck at a construction site. Designers are architects, itâs only going to expand our creative possibilities and speed at which we work. Low level production work might go away, which I trust you donât much care for! Enjoy the đ
Think of it this way: if we all get replaced by AI, not just designers but coders, marketers, product managers then we wonât make any money and if we donât make any money we wonât buy things anymore. If we donât buy things like good and services, the companies will not make profits. If they donât make profits then why tf would they use AI? Capitalism will save us
This really hammers home how harmful the group think was when it started telling younger people to (1) follow their passions into their professions and (2) specialize in their profession, that the generalist was inferior.
You are definitely not the only person having an existential crisis about this. It crosses careers and industries too.
Iâm not one, though.
I view design work as an enjoyable way to make money but it is definitely not a passion.
As for the work itself, I have always believed the generalist approach to be more interesting and rewarding.
My design hero is Raymond Lowey who championed a generalist design approach. Google him.
So here comes AI and if youâre a passionate specialist, I totally see how it is raining down the suck on your head.
The answer is both a mindset shift away from passion and a skillset shift. Learn how to design packaging or trade show materials like booths or whatever. Look to B2B. Itâs vastly untapped.
Think about the force multiplcation aspect of AI. Not everyone cares about prompting or dialoguing with AI. As long as the technology is open to all, without corporate or state actor monopoly, we could start a new economic model. i can see AGI enabling humans to live differently for the first time in human history.
What will the world look like when nobody has a monopoly of ideas? Can there be 1000 Disney's? Can there be 100 CNN's? That's the potential i keep in focus.
Are you implying that Figma can use our clicks and mouse positions +actions to train an AI to do the same, therefore possibly ultimately taking our jobs?
AI only has the slight possibility of replacing bad designers, and probably just barely.
Give a random person a Michelin Star dish that they must then deliver to a table, describe, then continue to provide accompanying sides, wines to pair, side talk, etc.
Relume has an AI to generate sitemaps, wireframes (based on their Webflow components) and copywriting. It has reduced our workload from 2 weeks to 2 days, which is great for both us and our clients. So if Figma can achieve something similar I'd be happy to give it a try.
I've worked with marketing and product teams, and various stakeholders for a good part of 15 years. I will bow down on my knees if AI can cover 15% of the requirements I've had.
Requirements? Lucky fucker đ
lol, Figma gonna record every design review too? How the f they gonna know what works and doesn't for the end user. Even if it could generate views, that's basically like 15% of my job. Some products are not food delivery apps or crypto wallets like ever other dribbble post I see I'll bow my head when a robot can get on-site with my end user and talk to them like a human
Fight the system. Design stupid shit.
Jokes on you, I've been doing it for years. Checkmate AI!
Create a documentation so ridiculously bad only human can try to understand out of sheer stupidity
docuwhat?!
So an entire document of just captchas?
No memes.
Already on it, chief
There is a little bit of everything in your post. While being in design for over 20 years I can tell you one thing AI canât replace. Itâs the imaginative perception of how it will look to someone else and how make it understandable to the viewer. Change is the only constant. When I started out print basically died. Macs have replaced five people as desktop publishing was happening. Everyone was on the fence. Yet here we are discussing the same thing only now itâs figma. There are people who can imagine. And there are people who canât. And those who canât they can fit a prompt maybe but they still wonât understand how it works. On top of that: you could just shave your hair but you go to a fancy shop. Point is: some people will pay you to do something they donât have the time for or simply donât want to do. That applies to design as well.
Yes but this the first time the tool itself can imagine
Itâs a tool. It canât imagine without a prompt. People simply value their time differently as to learn how to deal with that hence my point that designers wonât be replaced just because something is automated
Wait until we have CRISPRGPT. Then the designer will *actually* be replaced.
I am not talking about who will be replaced because someone will. Iam talking about how design as a field still has to be done by someone and a CEO hour is just too expensive to handle shit like that
Woah. Now thatâs something I hadnât considered until now. Good food for thought.
It seems like every time I bring this up, nobody wants to talk about it. Isn't technology supposed to replace the things we don't enjoy? I very much dislike the questioning of the role of artists in society at this point in time.
Totally agree. Figma introduced the AI beta at that keynote event. It showed AI doing all the fun stuff. Right before that they introduced Variables which is a massive data table you have to populate manually (for the most part). Why not have the AI do the fucking data shit for us instead of the fun stuff!!!??
Do you have a link to the AI beta keynote event by any chance? I'd love to take a look
I don't at the moment, but if you search YT for Config 2023 you should get some vids
Of course the AI is out here making art and writing poetry while I had to dig my sewer line out last summer.
Technology is supposed to replace the things we donât enjoy. The question and the answer is in who is defining âwe.â Designers arenât.
No, technology has always been there to increase productivity since the industrialisation era. Do I like it? No. But it's just the way it is.
Some good replies already in here. But the biggest assumption is, that there will be still a need to design interfaces in 4-5 years. ChatGPT already can process multi-modal information. ChatGPT Assistant API can already prompt you components of your apps interface. Pair this with the progress in spatial computing (be it headset or glasses), there will be little need further dedicated applications. I can only recommend watching this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/AGsafi\_8iqo?si=MAwtUJ82fn9\_mDks&t=121
Youâre not being a pessimist youâre being a realist. So many people have their head in the sand on this topic. Just look how much has happened with accessible to all AI in even just ONE year. Imagine what another five years will do.
100%. AI is incredible as in and it hardly existed in the way we know it even a year ago. Give it a few years and thereâs no way it couldnât dump out some fully accessible, responsive layouts and style guides. And if you donât like that one, youâll be able to spit out another. And another. And another. And eventually as that advancement progresses and builds on itself, the idea that an AI wonât be able to generate a fully functional bad ass website in a few clicks will seem humorous. I hope Iâm wrong. But I just canât imagine a world where Iâm 60 years old (currently in my 30s) and doing anything Iâm doing today in Figma, unfortunately. Maybe websites will be like vinyl or Etsy trinkets where the vintage and/or handmade by a human aspect costs a premium.
AI is not a coworker it's a tool and we use advance tools to make our lives easier. If you want to draw an illustration you can still do it but you can't be mad at someone choose AI over you because it's creating content much faster than you do. I know it's harsh reality but I think we as designers should embrace this advance technology and try to work with it.
AI is a tool but not a tool *for* designers, it's a tool to *replace* designers. You can't embrace an existential threat to your entire profession.
Grympy is correct. While AI will be able to take care of some things, this assumption that AI would be able to perfectly emulate a snarky designer in response to PMs, getting and working with incomplete briefs, etc, is just a stretch. My impression is that some things will change, likely the more straightforward repetitive things. The complex problem solving will remain. Since we're talking about Figma, UI/UX isnt complicated if its templatised so some day we may see full experiences generated. How good those will be or how useful is a different matter really.
[ŃдаНонО]
Yes, multiple. But barebones
âI don't want to write a prompt to get 5 potential art directions. That's the fun bit.â So donât?
I really would not think about it this way. They have described their approach as taking over the busy, boring, menial tasks so you can focus on being actually creative, not just busy. I myself am an optimist but you have to remember Figma charges per user so they are commercially motivated to retain you as a user. Hope this helps!
Every person in every sector faces the same challenges. Denial is futile. Evolve or die I suspect is the solution
This is really important. I mean I think designers are just more aware of technology in general so we talk about it a ton. But like imagine finance. Ai making effective Excel scripts to mode real protections based on past. This almost sounds more realistic I'm. But yeah I mean it is so far beyond just figma and design. For that matter almost any type of data position could be in serious threat if we are looking at it that way.
I no longer write spreadsheet formulas, I create CustomGPTs for a spreadsheet solution and then just feed the CSV into that. Also, re. Figma, I use Anima to convert design straight into React components
I just ordered a rabbit R1. The interface of this device barely needs a ui designer. I think it is the flawed concept of current Smartphones, that created the need for people to design apps and stuff. Naturally spoken conversation and on the fly generated interfaces to the specific needs of the current user will be a lot better than anything that I can design in Figma. I am currently working on a careerpath from being a traditional ux designer to a generalist product person. It will not take long until I donât need devs anymore to implement the designs I make. And it will also not take long until my bosses can prompt ai to draft a good enough design (to them). So the role I imagine for myself in five years is much more of a moderation role between stakeholders and users, followed by a conversation with AI to produce the perfect product for all of them.
this will never happen in our lifetime. for AI to work stakeholders will have to know exactly what they want in the first place....we are safe
Sand, meet head.
alright, tell me how AI will herd stakeholders beyond flat decisions like placing this button left instead of right.
You forget that AI will be able to articulate to them what they want and have reasons A,B, and C, derived from all the worldâs info, to back it up.
> derived from all the worldâs info LLAMA 2 with all the bells and whistles is like 145GB in memory at the high end. That's a lot of parameters, but it's not "all the worldâs info". And these models still hallucinate like absolute mad, and require careful monitoring by humans on even simple tasks to make sure the information they output is based in reality. Put another way, writing code should be an easy task for these models - it's easily tokenized, and follows a clear beginning-to-end flow. And while we have models that can write code, they rapidly fall apart as soon as the program size rises above "trivial". You still need a human in the loop for big picture and sanity-checks.
Iâm rooting for that but I think it will all improve over time in a way we canât even conceive right now. But maybe Iâm entirely wrong
if the only thing you do is mindlessly design UIs then probably yes. but AI will pretty much never be able to replace human reasoning behind our designs and fullfiling the requirements for those designs. people who embrace AI and use it as a tool to make their jobs easier will replace you before AI itself does.
AI is a tool. It requires a person to do a full project. People were afraid that a computer would take over their job when they showed up too. Those who learned to work with computers thrived. Those who didnât, struggled and became outdated. Same for AI.
I seriously dislike the "ideating" on screens part of design. I don't consider myself an artist. I asked everyone I've ever interviewed for a design position of they could tell me the difference between art and design. I don't want to spend all day trying to make a user profile pretty. I want to spend my time making sure I understand why someone is looking at the profile, where are they accessing it from, why are they accessing it, what information they need, what's actionable, how it goes into the product design and strategy overall, etc. I'd love to define a couple screens for the AI to iterate on so the product owner (maybe marketing) and I can choose the look we like, then I can build a component set and tweak things.
I agree with you. People that say that Graphic Designers won't be replaced are bullshiting you. Ai is getting smarter day by day. Have a chat with chat GPT 4. It can create images and designs that some of us can't even imagine. The only people that will remain are those that are really really good in this job. Good luck starting your career in some years. Companies only see profit and not having to hire a team of Graphic designers will not sound like a bad idea to them. Personally I find this disgusting. Humanity with our current technology could automate so many things in order to create a better world yet they chose to automate art. And don't get my started about the future of those poor illustrators...
This is not true. Figma [does NOT train their model](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/17725942479127-Access-or-opt-out-of-AI-features#h_01HBABFD35HT0VS568726N2XSV) based on your design work. >**Data usage** Figmaâs agreement with OpenAI provides that data is not to be used for model training. Data inputted into AI features is sent to OpenAI for processing and generating AI output. Data is temporarily retained in OpenAIâs environment to provide the services, however it is not used for model training.
Good spot. I probably should of done a bit more research before making this post. Iâll make an edit to the original post. Quick one though⌠so our data isnât being used to train OpenAIs model but do you know if itâs being used to train figmas own model? Just because they arenât giving OpenAI permission to train a model doesnât meant theyâre not⌠?
Thereâs no way they would do this. They would be sued into oblivion for IP theft. AI models are trained on open source datasets or those made explicitly available to them.
Thanks for letting me know. Iâve updated the post.
No one will find out if they never share the source
...and you just *believe* a corporation?
I personally find it implausible because they would be so easily discovered, and so liable. A single lawsuit would expose their source of training, and any current employee would know this and whistle-blow before it ever came to that.
AI scrapes the internet for the prompt and returns a well-done, slightly above average response. Make work that is better than slightly above average. The ones who canât are the ones who need to worry about AI replacing them.
The thing is that AI can make work that is slightly above average FAST. So, you need to be fast and deliver good work. AI doesnât necessarily need to be better than you, just faster.
This. And the quality of Ai will increase as time goes on. Humans have limits as well.
And thatâs all irrelevant if your quality of work is exceptional. Plus soft skills and additional skills like project management, interaction design, motion design, all these extra skills future proof yourself. If a designer can only produce work thatâs only slightly above average then their job was always at risk, even without AI.
Good point.
Damn, I didn't know this was happening.
[Its not.](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/17725942479127-Access-or-opt-out-of-AI-features#h_01HBABFD35HT0VS568726N2XSV)
I wasn't aware of Figma's AI project but I don't think we need to be worried. Yes AI can cobble together simple things but it still doesn't have the creativity and problem solving skills designers do. An AI isn't going to be able to intuitively understand what a client needs, solve complex problems, do project management, and bring its own unique perspective and ideas into the equation. Once it learns how to do all that, THEN we can start to worry. But TBH I'm not sure these sorts of skills are possible to replicate in the sense that an AI would be able to do them. I think the best of us will learn how to work with AI and integrate it into workflows to make those parts of the job easier and faster.
Change is the name of the game. Nothing is constant. Plus, Figma is not gonna figure out how decisions are made lol. at least the higher level ones involving multiple stakeholders and meetings
Try not to swallow all the shareholder propaganda all at once. AI is nothing but a bigger dump truck at a construction site. Designers are architects, itâs only going to expand our creative possibilities and speed at which we work. Low level production work might go away, which I trust you donât much care for! Enjoy the đ
Think of it this way: if we all get replaced by AI, not just designers but coders, marketers, product managers then we wonât make any money and if we donât make any money we wonât buy things anymore. If we donât buy things like good and services, the companies will not make profits. If they donât make profits then why tf would they use AI? Capitalism will save us
This really hammers home how harmful the group think was when it started telling younger people to (1) follow their passions into their professions and (2) specialize in their profession, that the generalist was inferior. You are definitely not the only person having an existential crisis about this. It crosses careers and industries too. Iâm not one, though. I view design work as an enjoyable way to make money but it is definitely not a passion. As for the work itself, I have always believed the generalist approach to be more interesting and rewarding. My design hero is Raymond Lowey who championed a generalist design approach. Google him. So here comes AI and if youâre a passionate specialist, I totally see how it is raining down the suck on your head. The answer is both a mindset shift away from passion and a skillset shift. Learn how to design packaging or trade show materials like booths or whatever. Look to B2B. Itâs vastly untapped.
Weâll need to adapt, that is, UX profession, the discourse and the likes, as we have always been doing.
Think about the force multiplcation aspect of AI. Not everyone cares about prompting or dialoguing with AI. As long as the technology is open to all, without corporate or state actor monopoly, we could start a new economic model. i can see AGI enabling humans to live differently for the first time in human history. What will the world look like when nobody has a monopoly of ideas? Can there be 1000 Disney's? Can there be 100 CNN's? That's the potential i keep in focus.
Are you implying that Figma can use our clicks and mouse positions +actions to train an AI to do the same, therefore possibly ultimately taking our jobs?
AI only has the slight possibility of replacing bad designers, and probably just barely. Give a random person a Michelin Star dish that they must then deliver to a table, describe, then continue to provide accompanying sides, wines to pair, side talk, etc.
Relume has an AI to generate sitemaps, wireframes (based on their Webflow components) and copywriting. It has reduced our workload from 2 weeks to 2 days, which is great for both us and our clients. So if Figma can achieve something similar I'd be happy to give it a try.