When AI knocked on UX’s door

It started with a question over chai.

Aayushi, a seasoned UX designer at a startup in Mumbai, scrolled through yet another LinkedIn post:

“AI will replace designers.”

She rolled her eyes. “Here we go again.”
Across the table, Arjun, her AI engineer friend, smirked. “You know, that post isn’t entirely wrong… but it’s not right either.”

And that sparked a conversation that many in the design world are now having.

Scene 1: The Myth of Replacement

“AI is a tool, not a takeover,” Arjun said, sipping his cutting chai.
“Think of AI as the intern who’s really fast. It can wireframe, analyze data, generate copy… but it doesn’t know your user like you do.”

Aayushi nodded. She had tried tools like ChatGPT, Galileo AI, and Uizard.
They helped her get started faster, but the intuition of where a confused user might get stuck? That still came from her interviews, research, and experience.

👉 Takeaway 1: AI assists, it doesn’t empathize.
AI can automate tasks, but UX’s heart—understanding human emotion—is still very human.

Scene 2: From Designer to Conductor

“AI is like having a 100-piece orchestra at your fingertips,” Arjun said.
“You don’t need to play every instrument. You just need to know what melody you want to create.”

Aayushi smiled. “So, I’m not becoming obsolete. I’m becoming… a director?”

“Exactly,” he said. “Your role shifts from doing everything to guiding systems—prompting the AI, shaping the outputs, and making sure it aligns with brand and user needs.”

She looked thoughtful. “Less pixels, more principles.”

👉 Takeaway 2: Designers are evolving into curators.
In the AI era, your job is to guide, not grind. Use AI for speed, and spend more time on thinking, empathy, and testing.

Scene 3: When the tools take over the Thinking

“But don’t you think,” Aayushi said, “we’re risking sameness? If everyone uses the same AI templates, doesn’t everything start to look... AI-ish?”

“Fair point,” said Arjun. “That’s why your unique taste matters more than ever. Tools can mimic style, but they can’t invent taste.”

She pulled out her phone and showed him an app redesign. “I asked AI to sketch this. But then I added my own twist—used a metaphor from Indian street vendors to design the menu. Something no AI could’ve imagined.”

👉 Takeaway 3: Creativity isn’t in the prompt. It’s in the twist.
Your perspective, culture, and real-world intuition are what keep AI outputs from becoming generic.

Closing Scene: The Vibe Shift

As the sun set and their chai glasses emptied, Aayushi opened her laptop.

“I’m going to co-design my next prototype with AI. It’ll do the heavy lifting—and I’ll give it the soul.”

Arjun grinned. “Welcome to UX 3.0.”