SEPTEMBER 2025
SEPTEMBER 2025
/
/
4-MINUTE READ
4-MINUTE READ
What's the Question?
What's the Question?
What's the Question?
AI has become the backdrop of our creative lives. But as it changes how we think, what meaning do we create with the time and answers it gives us? I reflected on the role of designers not as answer-finders but as question-askers, and on how practicing perception might be the most important skill in an AI-shaped world.
AI has become the backdrop of our creative lives. But as it changes how we think, what meaning do we create with the time and answers it gives us?
I reflected on the role of designers not as answer-finders but as question-askers, and on how practicing perception might be the most important skill in an AI-shaped world.
It has been a year since I moved to San Francisco, and if I were to describe what I’ve seen in this past year, I’d say I’ve seen very little of its people, places, and culture. What I have seen is AI, not just on billboards or in ads, but in people’s conversations. It is so omnipresent that I’ve even become a victim of it myself.
It has been a year since I moved to San Francisco, and if I were to describe what I’ve seen in this past year, I’d say I’ve seen very little of its people, places, and culture. What I have seen is AI, not just on billboards or in ads, but in people’s conversations. It is so omnipresent that I’ve even become a victim of it myself.
It has been a year since I moved to San Francisco, and if I were to describe what I’ve seen in this past year, I’d say I’ve seen very little of its people, places, and culture. What I have seen is AI, not just on billboards or in ads, but in people’s conversations. It is so omnipresent that I’ve even become a victim of it myself.
A few days ago, I was watching Before Sunrise (1995), and I had to open my notes app to jot down a conversation between Jesse and Celine, which, in a way, presages the collapse of perception because of AI.
A few days ago, I was watching Before Sunrise (1995), and I had to open my notes app to jot down a conversation between Jesse and Celine, which, in a way, presages the collapse of perception because of AI.
"You know what drives me crazy? It’s all these people talking about how great technology is, and how it saves all this time. But what good is saved time if nobody uses it? If it just turns into more busy work?"
"You know what drives me crazy? It’s all these people talking about how great technology is, and how it saves all this time. But what good is saved time if nobody uses it? If it just turns into more busy work?"
Don’t get me wrong, I love AI. I love how it can augment creativity. I’ve personally used it in many of my projects. AI is inevitable, so why not learn to live in this new world rather than resist it? This is the age of AI hype, and we talk so much about who it is going to replace, because it can, in many aspects. It is more efficient, faster, and even called “superhuman” (which is debatable).
Don’t get me wrong, I love AI. I love how it can augment creativity. I’ve personally used it in many of my projects. AI is inevitable, so why not learn to live in this new world rather than resist it? This is the age of AI hype, and we talk so much about who it is going to replace, because it can, in many aspects. It is more efficient, faster, and even called “superhuman” (which is debatable).
It can access and make sense of information faster than we can. That’s what we humans have been doing since the beginning, making sense of data. But now AI is here, and it can do it better than us. So why not embrace it? The idea alone should excite us.
It can access and make sense of information faster than we can. That’s what we humans have been doing since the beginning, making sense of data. But now AI is here, and it can do it better than us. So why not embrace it? The idea alone should excite us.
It can access and make sense of information faster than we can. That’s what we humans have been doing since the beginning, making sense of data. But now AI is here, and it can do it better than us. So why not embrace it? The idea alone should excite us.
But what I’ve learned through my own experience with AI is that efficiency does not equate to fulfillment.
But what I’ve learned through my own experience with AI is that efficiency does not equate to fulfillment.
Because if it did, why is it that we so rarely create more meaning from all the data we now have? We’ve all been using AI in our workflows, even in our personal lives. I’ve been asked this question a lot: Where do I, as a designer, stand vis-à-vis AI? After contemplation, conversations with fellow designers and reading Erika Hall’s insightful LinkedIn posts, I think I know where I stand.
Because if it did, why is it that we so rarely create more meaning from all the data we now have? We’ve all been using AI in our workflows, even in our personal lives. I’ve been asked this question a lot: Where do I, as a designer, stand vis-à-vis AI? After contemplation, conversations with fellow designers and reading Erika Hall’s insightful LinkedIn posts, I think I know where I stand.
The answer starts with understanding: What do I do as a designer? Do I research? Do I conceptualise? Do I create? Do I collaborate? Do I iterate and prototype? Do I test? And do I do it all over again? Yes. I do all this to create solutions and experiences that are effective and meaningful for the people we are designing with, not just for. In this entire process, we use AI as an assistant, a collaborator, to seek answers, sift through collected data, synthesize it, generate concepts, and ultimately create.
The answer starts with understanding: What do I do as a designer? Do I research? Do I conceptualise? Do I create? Do I collaborate? Do I iterate and prototype? Do I test? And do I do it all over again? Yes. I do all this to create solutions and experiences that are effective and meaningful for the people we are designing with, not just for. In this entire process, we use AI as an assistant, a collaborator, to seek answers, sift through collected data, synthesize it, generate concepts, and ultimately create.
But what do I need AI to help me answer? What is the real question? In a day, I open the fridge many times and see countless ingredients. I know what they are, but unless I figure out the right question, what do I want to cook, all those ingredients (answers) just sit there.
But what do I need AI to help me answer? What is the real question? In a day, I open the fridge many times and see countless ingredients. I know what they are, but unless I figure out the right question, what do I want to cook, all those ingredients (answers) just sit there.
As Erika Hall says:
"Only when you know the question will you know what the answer means."
As Erika Hall says:
"Only when you know the question will you know what the answer means."
And who understands what the question is, what people want, better than a designer? So, to wrap this up, here are my two cents: As designers, we should learn to ask the right questions.
And who understands what the question is, what people want, better than a designer? So, to wrap this up, here are my two cents: As designers, we should learn to ask the right questions.
Designing with AI is inevitable. It doesn’t have to be in today’s context either. AI can do almost everything but what I want to practice more of is deciding what AI is supposed to tell me.
Designing with AI is inevitable. It doesn’t have to be in today’s context either. AI can do almost everything but what I want to practice more of is deciding what AI is supposed to tell me.
I need to own my perception.
I need to own my perception.
RETURN TO TOP
RETURN TO TOP
RETURN TO TOP