AI 时代，设计角色正在被重新定义

最近，我有种越来越强烈的预感：

设计师（工业、时尚、产品、商业等），不会消失，但设计职能已然改变。

这里说的不是设计工具变了，而是计算设计价值的方式变了。

AI 带来的焦虑，是因为你的位置变了

过去 20 年，设计师的核心价值在于：

把 idea 执行出来

但现在，AI 正在快速吞噬设计执行能力。

根据 McKinsey & Company 的报告：

  • 设计执行类工作（visual production）超过 60% 可被自动化或效果增强

例如：

  • Midjourney
  • Runway
  • Figma Make

这些工具已经把“设计 visualization”变成底层能力，正在逐步成为基础设施。

你会看到一个残酷的现实

AI 取代不了最顶级设计师（有自己独特风格与影响力的设计师）。

但 AI 会直接淘汰中间层执行端设计师。

如今这已不是什么新鲜事。2026 年 1 月，罗永浩直播演示 loveart 如何在 2 小时内，由一个设计师 + AI 打造一组可商用的咖啡海报，而这曾是一个设计部 4-5 人一周才能做完的工作量。

欧美设计师：从 creator 到 curator

设计师的角色转换，不只发生在某个地区，而是一场全球性的定位变迁。

在美国，设计师 Jessica Walsh 的工作内容已有实质转变：

  • 执行端工作基本交给 AI
  • 工作重心聚焦 concept + narrative

她当前的角色更像：

creative director + curator

在中国：设计师被商业和效率挤压

最近，听了 ABCD 设计总监 Nod Young 的一档播客《96. 从业二十年，我还是会因为对设计的焦虑而失眠》。

他谈到，设计师要让自己的设计语言变得丰富，保持开放状态不断吸纳优秀样本，去感受和体验。而脑洞、感受、体验，是 AI 作为执行端工具短期内无法突破的瓶颈。

同样，他也指出中国设计师一直 struggle：

  • 客户不懂设计
  • 成本敏感
  • 设计被当作“装饰”

AI 的涌现，让设计师原本不被理解的处境变得更加艰难。甲方当下最爱问：

“既然 AI 可以做了，你为什么收这么贵？”

日本设计师：审美仍是竞争力，但设计语境变了

原研哉 的设计理念是：

“让噪音消失，让感知涌现”

虽然 AI 可以快速复制“形式上的极简”，却无法复制他独特的：

  • 文化语境
  • 长期积累的感知决策

焦虑的本质：你不再是“不可替代的节点”

以前：

设计师 = 生产力

现在：

设计师 = 系统中的一个节点

当设计师无法感知市场、美、符号，不能形成独特设计风格与文化底蕴时，在执行端被 AI 大量接管的当下和不远的未来，核心竞争力到底是什么？

未来，哪类设计师会更强？

mood image

今天，Midjourney、nano banana 已经能在几秒生成几近完美的图案。AI 拥有设计师无法比拟的生成效率，更多设计软件显然已不是壁垒。

未来，谁先转换思维，并实践成为这三类人，谁就更有优势：

1. 有“判断力”的人

能深度洞察并吃透：

  • 什么是好
  • 为什么好
  • 什么时候该停

2. 有“叙事能力”的人

设计不再只是视觉，而更侧重于：

意义或故事的构建能力

3. 有“系统能力”的人

能够充分：

  • 调用 AI 工具
  • 构建 workflow
  • 利用生产力杠杆提效

我的转变

2022 年底 ChatGPT 刚出来时，除了震撼，我已经意识到后来的 Midjourney、Runway、nano banana、loveart 等工具会对设计造成巨大冲击。

加上中国供给侧改革、淘汰低端产能，以及中美关系摩擦升级，我开始重新思考设计本质，并利用 AI 再次梳理设计框架，查漏补缺，提升叙事能力与设计思维。

从原本路径依赖：

  • idea -> 设计 -> 交付

调整为：

  • idea -> AI -> 内容 -> 表达

最近，我明显体会到：

内容本身也在变得容易。

AI 已经能帮我完成 80% 的执行工作，留给我的 20% 是：

我与世界的关系，以及我对世界的解读

危险信号

如果你还在着力提升：

  • 执行力
  • 工具熟练度

你可能正在优化一个会被时代快速淘汰的能力。

新时代，设计师的“通关密钥”

AI 时代下，设计师不会被淘汰，反而会成为时代宠儿。因为审美、文化与叙事，是 AI 短时间内仍难突破的瓶颈。

我们要做的，是换一种思维模式，升级 operating system：

1. 从“做设计” -> “定义问题”

不要问：

怎么做？

要问：

什么才值得做？

2. 从“交付作品” -> “构建系统”

未来不是作品竞争，而是 workflow 竞争。

3. 从“审美” -> “判断 + 文化”

AI 可以生产特定风格，但不能定义：

context

寄语

AI 打破了旧秩序，也释放了创造力。

它暴露的是：

流量是价值，而设计，离流量并不远。

Designers Are Not Being Replaced by AI - They’re Being Repriced

Lately, I’ve had a growing sense that something fundamental is shifting.

Not just in tools.
Not just in workflows.

But in how design itself is valued.

Design as a profession is not disappearing.
But the way its value is calculated is being rewritten, fast.

The real shift: from execution to judgment

For the past two decades, a designer’s core value was simple:

You could take an idea and make it real.

You knew how to translate abstraction into form - visually, spatially, emotionally.

But now, that layer is collapsing into infrastructure.

Tools like Midjourney, Runway, and Figma AI are not just helping designers.
They are systematically absorbing execution.

What used to take days now takes minutes.
What used to require skill now requires taste - at best.

According to McKinsey & Company, a significant portion of design production work is already automatable or heavily augmentable.

So the question is no longer:

Can you make something?

It’s:

Do you know what should be made?

The uncomfortable truth: the middle is collapsing

AI won’t replace the best designers.
But it will compress the entire middle layer.

The ones who are:

  • technically competent
  • aesthetically decent
  • but not directionally strong

Those are the roles being hollowed out first.

Because AI does not compete with the top.
It eliminates the need for the average.

Different regions, same signal

What is interesting is that this shift is showing up globally, but with different symptoms.

In the U.S.: designers are becoming curators

Take Jessica Walsh.
Her recent work is less about execution, more about concept and narrative orchestration.

She is not just designing.
She is framing meaning, assembling elements, and directing outcomes.

More “creative director,” less “maker.”

In China: designers are being squeezed by efficiency

From recent industry conversations, one thing is clear:

Chinese designers have long operated under pressure:

  • clients undervalue design
  • timelines are compressed
  • cost sensitivity is extreme

AI does not introduce the problem.
It amplifies it.

Now clients are asking:

“If AI can do this, why are we paying you?”

In Japan: aesthetics remain, but context is at risk

Designers like Kenya Hara represent a philosophy where design is about:

reducing noise so perception can emerge

AI can replicate the form of minimalism.
But not the cultural context behind it.

Without context, minimalism becomes empty style.

The real anxiety: loss of position, not loss of skill

Most designers think they are anxious because AI is getting better.
That is not quite it.

The deeper issue is:

You are no longer a critical node in the system.

You used to be the one who could make things happen.
Now, that capability is distributed - cheaply and instantly.

So who becomes more valuable?

mood image

Not the fastest executors.
Not the most tool-savvy.

But three types of people:

People with judgment

They know:

  • what is good
  • why it works
  • when to stop

In a world of infinite output, selection is power.

People who can build narratives

Design is no longer just visual.
It is about:

constructing meaning

Why this?
Why now?
Why should anyone care?

People who think in systems

They do not just create artifacts.

They:

  • design workflows
  • connect tools
  • build leverage

They do not produce more.
They amplify production itself.

My own shift

My original path was straightforward:

design -> expression -> content

But recently, expression became too easy.

When tools can generate 80% of what you need, the remaining 20% becomes brutally exposed.

That 20% is:

how you see

A dangerous trap

If you are still:

  • optimizing execution
  • mastering tools
  • chasing visual perfection

You might be refining a skill that is rapidly losing value.

A different operating system

The answer is not just “learn AI.”
It is to shift how you operate.

From making -> to defining

Do not ask:

How do I design this?

Ask:

What is worth designing in the first place?

From outputs -> to systems

The competition is no longer between portfolios.
It is between workflows.

From taste -> to context

AI can generate style.
But it cannot generate:

  • cultural awareness
  • timing
  • meaning

That is where the real leverage is.

One final thought

AI is not taking your job.

It is revealing something more uncomfortable:

The value you thought you had was never as defensible as you believed.