Embracing the fear of AI, part 1
How going back to design thinking basics can help design leaders guide their teams through these uncertain times
Since AI exploded into the world in its new forms (chatbots, smart assistants, self-driving cars, and the list goes on), there has been a lot of necessary discourse on the impact that this technology will have on the design industry. Will AI replace the need for designers and other creatives? Will AI-inspired gig work replace the need for design leaders? How will creatives receive recognition and compensation for their work?
The short answers here are a mix of “no” and “we don’t know”. These answers don’t exactly inspire the certainty we’re looking for but, as design leaders, we’re quite well-equipped to help guide our teams through this uncertain time. After all, the design thinking process is the foundation of our craft and it’s a super helpful process to lean on, especially when figuring out how to embrace the change associated with innovation.
In this series of posts, I’m going to share the tips that have helped me — a design leader and someone who is far from an expert on the topic — deal with the uncertainties of AI.
Tip 1: Ask informed questions
When ChatGPT was released last year, I will be the first to admit that my learning journey looked a bit like an ostrich with its head in the sand. I was worried about the new tool and it felt much easier to avoid that worry by similarly avoiding the tool.
(As a complete tangent, I did some research and it turns out that ostriches are much smarter than we give them credit. And they don’t, in fact, hide their heads in the sand as overwhelmed humans do metaphorically.)
When I realized that this tech was starting to inject potentially paralyzing fear into the minds of my content and product design teams, I realized it was time to step up and embrace the unknown. Before diving into the tool itself, I started with Step 1 of the design thinking process and asked questions (What are you using it for? Why are you using it? What kind of prompts are you playing with?) of people who had taken the leap and started exploring the tool.
Okay, so that sounds easy. But how do you know what question to ask? Are you even the right person to be asking questions? Maybe you should just sit back and let the experts do their thing. These self-doubts are real. I encounter them all the time and it brings me to a point that I can't stress enough:
You don’t need to be an expert to ask informed questions.
Engaging in discourse doesn’t mean you have to present yourself as the expert or as the loudest voice in the virtual room. In fact, not being the expert provides you with a helpful outside perspective. It also ensures that the experts who have likely become too close to the issue at hand are considering more diverse use cases.
Where to get started
Especially as new tech like AI continues to evolve, we have a role as leaders and designers to join the conversation. I recommend starting in your comfort zone and then embracing your learner’s mindset when it comes to framing your own questions.
My approach has been to consume information (my comfort zone) and then push myself to write about the topic (my learning zone). Just a few of my favorite resources so far have come from:
- Reading articles on AI related to my industry (so for design, I recommend subscribing to Mia Blume’s Designing with AI newsletter and reading UX Collective’s AI-tagged articles)
- Working my way through the wide range of TED talks on AI
- Following AI experts on social media (Anima Anandkumar and Pankaj Kedia are two of the many great experts sharing content on LinkedIn)
For you, asking informed questions might look like leaving a comment on an online article about AI with a question for the author, hosting an open discussion with your team about their hopes and fears related to AI, or listening to a podcast about AI and journaling your thoughts.
There is a lot of AI content out there at the moment. So dig in and remember that even if a conversation feels crowded, there’s still plenty of room for you to bring your perspective and experiences to the table. Just ask the ostriches…all this time, they’ve just been waiting for us to ask “Do you really stick your heads in the sand when you’re scared?” 😉
Follow me to get notified about Embracing our fear of AI, part 2. In the meantime, share your own thoughts, questions, and tips in the comments!
