Design, AI, and an Existential Crisis

Alex and Jordan sit in a corner booth of a crowded café, both recently laid off from design jobs they once thought were safe. Their laptops are open, flooded with job boards, rejection emails, and LinkedIn posts about AI taking over creative industries. A notification pings—another job posting requiring "Figma AI experience." Alex exhales sharply, closing their laptop with more force than necessary. The tension between them is thick, part exhaustion, part existential dread.

Alex (shaking their head, staring into their coffee cup): "Man, I don’t even know why I bother looking anymore. Every job says ‘must have experience with AI tools.’ And not just AI tools—Figma AI. Like, if Figma is doing the job for us, what the hell are we even here for?"

Jordan (scrolling through their phone, reading an article): "Yeah. I saw a demo the other day—Figma AI auto-generating wireframes, recommending layouts, even suggesting design tweaks. It’s like having a built-in junior designer that doesn’t complain or take breaks."

Alex (laughing bitterly): "Except it’s not a junior designer—it’s our replacement."

Jordan (raising an eyebrow): "I mean… is it, though? Or is it just shifting where we add value? Like, remember when designers freaked out over auto-layout? Or when smart objects came to Photoshop? AI’s just another tool, right?"

Alex (snapping back): "Except this time, it’s different. Figma AI isn’t just helping—it’s designing. It can generate full prototypes in minutes. And companies love it. 37% of businesses are already replacing jobs with AI, and you think design teams are immune?" ?? ResumeBuilder Report

Jordan (leaning forward, more animated now): "Okay, but you’re ignoring the other side of this. Yeah, AI is doing some of the work. But that doesn’t mean no one is hiring designers. The jobs are changing. LinkedIn just reported that AI-powered design roles are up 85%—that’s not nothing." ?? LinkedIn Report

Alex (rolling their eyes): "Oh cool, so instead of designing, we get to be ‘AI prompt engineers’—basically glorified AI button pushers. That’s not what I signed up for."

Jordan (pausing, choosing their words carefully): "I get it. But let’s be real—Figma AI can generate layouts, but it can’t design a brand experience. It can suggest button placements, but it can’t understand user psychology. We have something it never will—intuition, creativity, and storytelling. That’s our leverage."

Alex (skeptical, arms crossed): "That sounds nice, but tell me this—if AI isn’t replacing us, why are we both unemployed?"

Jordan (quiet for a second, then sighs): "Maybe because we’re still looking for the same jobs we had instead of the ones that are coming next."