Why AI Isn’t the Threat, But the Invitation
“These days will end.”
— Luthen Rael, Andor
There’s a moment in Andor, the Star Wars series, that I think is far more human than sci-fi, when Luthen Rael tells Cassian Andor: “These days will end.” It’s not a threat. It’s a truth. A signal. A reminder.
A reminder that change is coming. It’s fast and unrelenting, and you can either cling to the past or get to your feet and fight, fight for the future you want.
Right now, content designers and product designers stand in the middle of our own Luthen moment. AI is here.
And just like we’ve seen with the rise of mobile or the wild emergence of social media, we’re hearing the same refrain: this is the end of things. Jobs lost. Skills outdated. Power shifting.
The reality: we’ve been here before.
The Echo of Change
Do you remember when mobile phones took over? I’m not just talking about the device, but the mindset.
Suddenly, user experience wasn’t optional.
UX became the centre of product design because mobile changed how everyone, and I literally mean everyone, interacted with the internet.
Companies that once treated UX as an afterthought scrambled to build responsive design teams. Entire methodologies were rewritten to serve the new frontier.
And before that? Social media.
It was dismissed by marketers at first. “Not serious.” “Not strategic.”
But some curious few dared to explore, not because it was safe, but because they sensed something powerful. And so they helped redefine marketing.
And now? A brand without a social presence looks like a dinosaur.
Yes, these shifts were disruptive. But they didn’t destroy us.
In fact, they invited us to do better, to design with empathy, ethics, and accessibility. To think harder about data, about privacy, about unintended consequences.
AI is the next wave.
And content designers, this is our moment.
AI Is Content
AI is not just some abstract codebase or mechanical threat lurking in the shadows.
AI, as we see it today, is content. Its outputs are words, patterns, and ideas. And content designers are the stewards of that domain.
We’ve spent years arguing that we don’t have the tools to do our jobs properly. Well, someone just built us a tool. A flawed one, sure. But one with the raw power to reshape the web.
It’s here. It’s learning. And it needs us.
While AI can generate language, it can’t create meaning. It can’t understand nuance, context, or voice without guidance.
Left alone, it mimics bias, repeats noise, and scales confusion.
But guided by human content designers, that’s us by the way, the people who work with clarity, empathy, and ethics, it can become something more.
AI isn’t a threat to our profession. It’s a call to leadership.
The Battle of Power
Of course, stepping into this space means wrestling with power. And not all of it is ready to change, I get that.
There’s a tension growing in our industry, between old power and new power, as described by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms.
Old power is hierarchical, gated, and rule-bound. Think of “best practices” that have become dogma. Guidelines that, while vital once, are now policed like scripture.
New power is participatory. Messy. Open. It flows from the edges. Think communities, contributors, collaborators. It adapts in real-time. It doesn’t wait for permission.
Right now, much of the content design world is caught between these modes.
We’ve built incredible foundations, like the GDS guidelines in government, but in many places, these get enforced so rigidly that they can stop evolution.
We need those standards, yes. But we also need the courage to bend them when the moment demands it.
AI is not compatible with rigid systems. It needs an agile mindset. It needs content designers who see themselves not as gatekeepers, but as shapers.
The Web Is Shifting… Again
Whether we call it Web 3.0 or not, we’re in the middle of another major shift.
One where personalised, curated content becomes the default expectation.
Where users may not want to read, they want to interact. Where AI doesn’t just support the experience, it is the experience.
And who better to lead that evolution than the people who design with people in mind?
And yes, there are risks, just like there were with social media. Bias, privacy, environmental concerns, and misinformation.
But the answer isn’t to retreat. It’s to engage. To shape. To improve.
We’ve done it before. We can do it again.
This Is the Invitation
You might be feeling cautious. Frustrated. Unsure of your role. That’s okay.
But don’t stay silent.
Because just like Luthen saw in Cassian, it would be a waste of talent to sit this one out.
You know how to ask better questions.
You know how to speak for the user when the room forgets.
You know how to bridge the technical and the human.
AI doesn’t diminish your work. It amplifies your opportunity.
So ask yourself:
Don’t you want to fight these bastards for real?
No one should be made to feel small for using AI. And no content designer should sit back and watch others define what it becomes.
This is not the end of content design.
This is the invitation to lead.
Next in the Series
In my next blog, I’ll explore exactly “Why Content Design Belongs in AI”, not just as writers, but as leaders, stewards of clarity, and architects of trust.
Because while AI can scale content, it can’t make it meaningful.
That’s still our job. And the fight is just beginning.
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.
We’ve Been Here Before: Answering AI’s Call was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.