Designers: Robots Are Coming For Your Jobs

Computers will eventually take our jobs. At least that’s what we’re being told. Machines have been replacing workers for centuries, and intelligent robots will only accelerate this trend. Autonomous vehicles will strand taxi drivers, news filing software will write journalists out of the story, and surgical robots will excise doctors. Designers are supposed to be different. Those of us who fashion clothes, model new products, and shape the world to conform to our sensibilities consider ourselves too creative for any machine to replace. Many of us are convinced that we are unique, our skills irreplaceable. This is not entirely true. Advances in artificial intelligence will usher in a new regime of hyper-personalized designs and tools, a trend with which human designers cannot possibly hope to keep pace. Computers will prove to be far more creative—fearlessly creative—than most humans. Designers are in for a period of radical change and must learn to adapt. Those who don’t might as well start looking now for a new line of work. Read more at Fast Company.