Technology can assist creation. It always has. But meaning still comes from being human.
Empathy is the one word I believe will define the future of design.
People often ask me whether AI will replace designers, and my answer is always yes and no. I remember sitting with a client once, trying to understand not what they wanted on paper, but what they actually needed the space to feel like. Their brief said, "warm and minimal." What they meant, it turned out, was that they wanted a home that didn't feel like it was performing for guests, one that felt like exhaling. No prompt could have told me that. I only got there by sitting in their silence for a while and noticing what they weren't saying.
AI can generate ideas and simulate taste. What it can't do is design, not in the way that matters. Design was never about creating for someone in the abstract. It's about feeling: understanding why something belongs, how it's actually used, and who it's really for. Computer scientist Andrew Ng has pointed out that machines are still missing the traits that make this possible: creativity, improvisation, flexibility, and empathy. AI can learn patterns endlessly, but it can't sense emotion. It can't feel the tension in a room, or the particular weight of silence in a space someone has to live in every day.
So no, AI won't replace designers. But it will replace the ones who design without awareness or empathy.
