One Way Out: Standing at the Edge of the Map

“There is one way out. Right now, the building is ours. You need to run, climb, help each other. If we can fight half as hard as we’ve been working, we’ll be home in no time. One way out! One way out! One way out!”
— Kino Loy, Andor

Standing At The Edge

When I started putting pen to paper, I had no idea where this blog series would go. Heck, it wasn’t meant to be a blog at all. I just wanted to jot down some thoughts before I forgot them. But here we are.

I guess the question that is on everybody’s mind, or perhaps they asked themselves at one point, is “Will AI replace content designers?

The truth is, I don’t know. And if I’m honest, I don’t think anyone does.

Don’t get me wrong, AI is good, but for what I’ve seen and explored so far, I’d like to believe there’s still a big space for us humans.

A great deal has changed since AI emerged onto the scene.

Generative AI hasn’t slowed down; it’s accelerating, reshaping our industry almost daily. And here we are again, standing at the edge of the map, staring out over a horizon that feels both limitless and terrifying.

The question doesn’t feel any less urgent.

If anything, it feels sharper. Because the conversation has become noisier, more polarised, more exhausting.

On one side, the doom-mongers: every job is toast, every role replaceable, and designers are just waiting for the axe to fall.

On the other hand, the utopians: AI and humans skipping into the future hand-in-hand, solving everything from content ops to climate change.

The truth. The truth, as always, is messier.

Why Predictions Keep Missing The Point

It seems like every day we see some sort of headline saying that “50% of entry-level jobs will be gone in five years,” or “AI will design everything.”

I think these predictions are delivered with breathless certainty. But they share a fatal flaw: they’re usually written by people who don’t actually do the work they’re talking about.

I’m assuming that when they imagine ‘design’, they imagine the outputs, a button label, a flow, a headline.

But what they are really missing is that design is a process, not a product. It’s not just what gets published, it’s the hundreds of messy, strategic, human steps that lead there:

Sitting in rooms with stakeholders, negotiating trade-offs
Talking to real users about real frustrations
Planning journeys that connect business goals with human needs
Building trust within organisations so that the right decisions are made

AI can simulate empathy to an extent. It can churn out drafts. It can even generate ideas that surprise us.

But it doesn’t walk into a meeting and persuade a sceptical executive to prioritise accessibility. It doesn’t navigate office politics. It doesn’t notice that a phrase in an error message could humiliate someone in a moment of vulnerability.

Content design isn’t just words. It’s relationships, judgment, and context.

That’s the part no model can copy.

The Real Threats

If AI won’t fully replace us, what should worry us?

I see two big dangers.

1. The perception that fewer designers are needed
Because AI makes us faster, some leaders assume they need fewer of us. But our workload has never been finite. It’s just been what we could realistically manage.

If AI makes us more productive, the result shouldn’t be fewer designers. It should be a better design. More journeys reviewed. More flows fixed. More clarity delivered.

Cutting headcount while raising expectations is a false economy. Products and services will suffer.

2. The idea that “anyone can do content design with AI”
This one cuts deeper, as I’ve heard it many times before. It imagines a world where leaders say, “Why hire a content designer when anyone can throw prompts into a tool?”

The flaw is obvious to us, but maybe not to them: without expertise, you don’t know if the output is good. You don’t know if it’s inclusive. You don’t know if it meets accessibility. You don’t know if it’s ethically sound.

AI brings probability. We bring judgment. And that’s not the same thing.

What Hurts The Most

Sometimes, the resistance comes from inside our own house. And this hurts.

I’ve seen content design purists retreat into fear, desperate to protect the craft they love. I get it. But in clinging too tightly, they risk suffocating it.

The loudest voices, insisting we must keep things “pure,” can do the most damage. They make pioneers feel like heretics. They turn evolution into betrayal.

That makes me angry. Because building on strong foundations isn’t about destroying the house; it’s about extending it. If we don’t evolve, others will. And they’ll do it without the care, ethics, or user-first instincts that we bring.

Content Designers + AI = A Brighter Future

The hopeful version of the story is still possible. In fact, it’s already happening.

More than 80% of content designers I know are using AI tools. Not to replace their craft, but to accelerate it:

Summarising user interviews so we can spend more time on insights
Creating drafts that we can then shape into clarity
Generating templates, guidelines, and resources
Automating admin so we can focus on design

When used well, AI isn’t a threat. It’s leverage. It gives us time back. It helps us bring our best selves to the work.

But, and it’s a big BUT, this brighter future won’t just happen. It depends on us claiming the space, shaping the tools, and embedding the standards we’ve fought for: clarity, accessibility, humanity.

Why Now Matters

History tells us these moments don’t come often. Mobile was one. Social media was another. AI is this generation’s seismic shift.

Every shift starts with panic. Every shift creates noise. But every shift also opens a door for the disciplines brave enough to walk through it.

For years, content designers have said we want a seat at the table. Well, this is it. AI has forced content into the spotlight. Suddenly, words matter. Voice matters. Trust matters.

This is the time to prove, once and for all, that content design isn’t support. It’s strategy. It’s leadership.

What The Horizon Looks Like

So where does this leave us? Honestly, I don’t know. And I don’t think anyone does.

But this is what I see when I squint at the horizon:

Hybrid practitioners — designers who treat AI like a collaborator, not a competitor.
Evolved standards — gold standards with ethics, voice, and accessibility at the core.
Broader impact — content designers shaping not just UX, but AI governance, policy, and education.
Greater visibility — a world where no one dismisses us as “just words,” because the words are the experience, the trust, the interface.

It’s not inevitable. But it’s possible. And that’s enough.

One Way Out

This series began with the idea that AI wasn’t a threat but an invitation. I still believe that. Maybe even more strongly now.

But AI is also a test. It’s a test of our courage, curiosity, and leadership.

We’re standing at the edge of the map, and the terrain ahead is unwritten. I know it’s scary, because I am standing there with you. There is no perfect plan. No guaranteed safety.

There is just the chance, right now, to rise, to lead, and to move together.

Kino Loy wasn’t promising certainty. He wasn’t offering comfort. He was saying: This is your moment. Take it.

And that’s where content design stands today.

So let’s move. Let’s lead.

Let’s remind the world what content design has always been about: people.

There’s one way out, and it’s forward.

Previously in this Series

I hope you enjoyed this article. If it was helpful, feel free to leave a clap or two, or consider dropping a comment. You can connect with me on LinkedIn and Medium. Also, feel free to check out my portfolio, too.

One Way Out: Standing at the Edge of the Map was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.