How design thinking will transform AI
Design and AI must evolve together
For Harm Hogenbirk, design has always been about communication - of values, intentions, and possibilities. In the age of AI, that doesn’t change. What changes is the potential scale and speed at which design can evolve. But the key insight? AI must evolve with us, not replace us. Products should adapt to users’ habits, goals, and personalities, just like a leather wallet that becomes more beautiful the longer you use it. If AI can learn from our behavior to support, not dictate, then design becomes a tool for deeper personal relevance and connection.
The human touch still leads
AI is great at generating options and optimizing efficiency. But Harm is clear:
“It lacks empathy, intuition, and the ability to innovate beyond existing patterns. Designers should not forget what real users actually need and want.”
Designers must continue to define purpose, context, and experience. AI can help with the heavy lifting - automating boring, repetitive tasks - but the creative direction, the emotional insight, and the ethical compass must remain human.
AI should challenge, not control
Instead of imagining AI as a frictionless, seamless machine, we might ask: can AI help us grow? Harm challenges the common vision of AI as something that removes all resistance:
“If everything goes smooth, nothing becomes valuable.”
Design should create room for questioning, exploration, and even friction, all those moments where growth happens. AI can play a role in this by prompting reflection, posing alternative paths, or asking: Are you sure this is still the right way?
The ethical future belongs to designers
Pilotfish’s design process has always centered around real people in real contexts. In a future where AI is embedded in every product, that approach becomes even more critical. Harm notes:
“We need ethical guardrails - privacy, fairness, transparency - to keep AI grounded and supportive of human values.”
Designers must be the stewards of those values. That means daring to ask unpopular questions and taking responsibility for the impact of design choices on individual autonomy and collective well-being.
The goal? Meaningful tools that help us shine
The future of AI shouldn’t be about creating perfect systems that do everything for us, it should be about designing tools that leave room for human growth. When technology handles every challenge, every decision, every tiny friction point, we risk forgetting how to think critically, create meaning, or even connect with one another in authentic ways.
As Harm puts it:
“If we allow AI to remove every obstacle, we risk losing the very moments that shape us. The future won’t be defined by how seamless our tools become, but by whether they still leave space for growth, struggle, and meaning.”
By combining human-centered design with AI, we can create tools that free up time, remove friction, and help people focus on what really matters: creativity, connection, and contribution. In the end, good design doesn’t just make life easier. It makes life better.
