From Creators to Curators: How AI is changing the role of designers

UX/UI design is all about people—how they think, feel, and interact with technology. It’s what makes the field especially appealing to career changers, regardless of their background. In fact, it’s their unique experiences that make them valuable to employers, bringing fresh perspectives that help create more inclusive and user-friendly designs.

Now, thanks to AI-powered design tools, transitioning into UX/UI has never been easier. AI can generate layouts, suggest copy, generate color palettes, and even optimize user flows, lowering the technical barrier for newcomers. That’s amazing news—it means more professionals from different industries can step into a design role and create better products for a wider range of users.

But here’s the catch: while AI removes barriers, it also raises expectations. With AI taking care of the mechanics, designers who thrive in this new landscape won’t just be those who use AI. Instead, the best designers will be those who know how to curate and refine AI-generated designs into something exceptional.

Photo by Cash Macanaya on Unsplash

AI Lowers the Bar but Raises the Ceiling

Think of AI as a super-efficient generalist—it can do a little bit of everything and it can do it well. Need a modern and sleek layout? AI can generate one in seconds. Want a cool color palette? AI can give you endless suggestions. With a few simple clicks, anyone can produce visually appealing designs. As a result, the field is experiencing many changes, including:

• More Accessibility – You don’t need years of experience to create polished designs anymore.

• Faster Iterations – AI generates layouts in seconds, making the design process more efficient.

• Less Repetitive Work – No more spending hours adjusting margins or resizing elements—AI handles the tedious stuff.

But despite everything that AI provides, these tools alone are not enough. While AI is great at generating options, it simply cannot think like a human.

Human beings have a unique superpower in their frontal lobe that allows them to make connections where none have existed before. AI, as it exists today, relies on patterns—it takes from the past, using what has worked before to generate something beautiful, but basic. It’s great at remixing, but not at breaking new ground.

Example: The Evolution of a Brand Identity

Imagine an AI is tasked with designing a logo for a new sustainable fashion brand. It pulls from existing eco-friendly logos, suggesting green leaves, minimalist typography, and earthy tones—design elements that are safe and expected. The result is polished, but predictable.

Now, a human designer steps in. Instead of following the AI’s lead, she asks:

💡 What is the brand's tone? Playful? Serious? How can that be represented?

💡 What else suggests sustainability? Perhaps it could be represented through movement, fluidity, or transformation.

💡 What if the color palette drew inspiration from colorful, natural dyes instead of typical green and brown?

By thinking beyond the obvious, she might combine inspiration from textile weaving patterns, motion-based branding, or even biomimicry, creating a truly distinct and innovative identity that AI wouldn’t have arrived at on its own.

This is the difference: AI suggests, but designers define. AI generates, but humans innovate.

The Rise of Designers as Curators

In short, designers are becoming curators—sifting through AI-generated options, refining the best ones, and making intentional choices based on the idiosyncracies of their users that AI simply can’t.

Only human designers can interpret subtle cultural nuances, anticipate how a design makes someone feel, use those feelings to empathize with users, or make the kinds of creative leaps that come naturally to human beings. It’s not a living, thinking, entity making its way through the real world, so it can’t connect any particular design choice to the messy, unpredictable human experiences that shape how we interact with products. If companies relied solely on AI, they would never truly understand their users—thank goodness for designers!

In my mind, we can finally put this concern to rest: designers are not going to be replaced by AI. But AI does have consequences on what the role requires.

As more companies adopt AI-generated design, the demand for strong curation skills will increase. Thus, standing out requires more than just using AI—it requires knowing what looks good and what works best for users.

The Most Valuable UX/UI Skills in the AI Era

With AI changing the roles of designers, what, then, are the kinds of skills that will set great designers apart? In my opinion, the best UX/UI designers will focus on:

• Research & User Testing – AI can generate ideas, but it can’t conduct real-world usability testing, analyze human behavior, or adapt designs based on actual user feedback. Designers who can interpret data, conduct A/B testing, and understand user psychology will have the edge.

• Emotional Intelligence – AI lacks intuition while designers bring the emotional depth that makes experiences feel human.

• Taste and Judgment – Knowing what looks good and, more importantly, why it works.

• Critical Thinking – Not every AI-generated design is good design—great designers know how to filter and refine what the AI gives them.

• Prompt Engineering – Designers who can best guide the AI will get better, more tailored results.

• User-Centered Thinking – AI can create, but only humans can ensure the design actually meets their users' needs.

The future belongs to those who know how to curate, refine, and elevate AI-driven designs into something that feels intentionally crafted. Designers are going nowhere, but what defines an exceptional designer is shifting.

Photo by UX Indonesia on Unsplash

Conclusion: The Designers Who Thrive Will Be the Best Curators

There is no question about it: AI is transforming UX/UI design, making it more accessible and efficient. But while AI can generate layouts, suggest design elements, and automate workflows, it can’t replace human judgment. Creativity, critical thinking, and empathy are still primarily human traits. So, instead of eliminating designers, AI is reshaping their role—shifting them from creators to curators.

Yes, it's easier than ever to enter the design space, but the stakes are than ever higher for those who wish to be at the top of the game. True innovation is only going to happen when designers think beyond what the AI can provide.