Has the “AI Edge” Become a Dull Blade?

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> <title>Has the “AI Edge” Become a Dull Blade? | Big Medium</title> <meta name="description" content="Today’s cutting-edge technology is becoming tomorrow’s ho-hum office tool. And that’s a good thing." /> <meta name="author" content="Veronika Kindred" /> <meta name="copyright" content="Copyright Big Medium, 2024" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/has-the-ai-edge-become-a-dull-blade.html" /> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow" /> <link rel="icon" href="https://bigmedium.com/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://bigmedium.com/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.feed.xml" title="Big Medium - Full Feed" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.styles.css" type="text/css" /> <style type="text/css"> div.bma_page1674 { display: none } </style> <link rel="home" title="Home" href="https://bigmedium.com/" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@bigmediumjosh" /> <meta name="twitter:url" property="og:url" content="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/has-the-ai-edge-become-a-dull-blade.html" /> <meta name="twitter:title" property="og:title" content="Has the “AI Edge” Become a Dull Blade? | Big Medium" /> <meta name="twitter:description" property="og:description" content="Today’s cutting-edge technology is becoming tomorrow’s ho-hum office tool. And that’s a good thing." /> <meta name="twitter:image" property="og:image" content="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/ai-blade-4.orig-1000.png" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="57x57" href="/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="60x60" href="/apple-touch-icon-60x60.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="72x72" href="/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="76x76" href="/apple-touch-icon-76x76.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="114x114" href="/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="120x120" href="/apple-touch-icon-120x120.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="144x144" href="/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="152x152" href="/apple-touch-icon-152x152.png"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/apple-touch-icon-180x180.png"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/favicon-194x194.png" sizes="194x194"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/favicon-96x96.png" sizes="96x96"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/android-chrome-192x192.png" sizes="192x192"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16"> <link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.json"> <link rel="mask-icon" href="/safari-pinned-tab.svg" color="#5bbad5"> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#ffffff"> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="/mstile-144x144.png"> <meta name="theme-color" content="#ffffff"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/styles.css?cache" type="text/css" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Big Medium" /> <script> /*! grunt-grunticon Stylesheet Loader - v2.1.2 | https://github.com/filamentgroup/grunticon | (c) 2015 Scott Jehl, Filament Group, Inc. | MIT license. */ (function(e){function t(t,n,r,o){"use strict";function a(){for(var e,n=0;u.length>n;n++)u[n].href&&u[n].href.indexOf(t)>-1&&(e=!0);e?i.media=r||"all":setTimeout(a)}var i=e.document.createElement("link"),l=n||e.document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0],u=e.document.styleSheets;return i.rel="stylesheet",i.href=t,i.media="only x",i.onload=o||null,l.parentNode.insertBefore(i,l),a(),i}var n=function(r,o){"use strict";if(r&&3===r.length){var a=e.navigator,i=e.Image,l=!(!document.createElementNS||!document.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/svg","svg").createSVGRect||!document.implementation.hasFeature("http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG11/feature#Image","1.1")||e.opera&&-1===a.userAgent.indexOf("Chrome")||-1!==a.userAgent.indexOf("Series40")),u=new i;u.onerror=function(){n.method="png",n.href=r[2],t(r[2])},u.onload=function(){var e=1===u.width&&1===u.height,a=r[e&&l?0:e?1:2];n.method=e&&l?"svg":e?"datapng":"png",n.href=a,t(a,null,null,o)},u.src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==",document.documentElement.className+=" grunticon"}};n.loadCSS=t,e.grunticon=n})(this);(function(e,t){"use strict";var n=t.document,r="grunticon:",o=function(e){if(n.attachEvent?"complete"===n.readyState:"loading"!==n.readyState)e();else{var t=!1;n.addEventListener("readystatechange",function(){t||(t=!0,e())},!1)}},a=function(e){return t.document.querySelector('link[href$="'+e+'"]')},c=function(e){var t,n,o,a,c,i,u={};if(t=e.sheet,!t)return u;n=t.cssRules?t.cssRules:t.rules;for(var l=0;n.length>l;l++)o=n[l].cssText,a=r+n[l].selectorText,c=o.split(");")[0].match(/US\-ASCII\,([^"']+)/),c&&c[1]&&(i=decodeURIComponent(c[1]),u[a]=i);return u},i=function(e){var t,o,a;o="data-grunticon-embed";for(var c in e)if(a=c.slice(r.length),t=n.querySelectorAll(a+"["+o+"]"),t.length)for(var i=0;t.length>i;i++)t[i].innerHTML=e[c],t[i].style.backgroundImage="none",t[i].removeAttribute(o);return t},u=function(t){"svg"===e.method&&o(function(){i(c(a(e.href))),"function"==typeof t&&t()})};e.embedIcons=i,e.getCSS=a,e.getIcons=c,e.ready=o,e.svgLoadedCallback=u,e.embedSVG=u})(grunticon,this); grunticon(["/grunticon-v2/icons.data.svg.css", "/grunticon-v2/icons.data.png.css", "/grunticon-v2/icons.fallback.css"]); </script> <noscript><link href="/grunticon-v2/icons.fallback.css" rel="stylesheet"></noscript> <script src="/js/picturefill-min.js" async></script>  <script type="text/javascript"> var _paq = _paq || []; /* tracker methods like "setCustomDimension" should be called before "trackPageView" */ _paq.push(['trackPageView']); _paq.push(['enableLinkTracking']); (function() { var u="//bigmedium.com/bigstats/"; _paq.push(['setTrackerUrl', u+'piwik.php']); _paq.push(['setSiteId', '1']); var d=document, g=d.createElement('script'), s=d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; g.type='text/javascript'; g.async=true; g.defer=true; g.src=u+'piwik.js'; s.parentNode.insertBefore(g,s); })(); </script>  </head>  <body id="Page-has-the-ai-edge-become-a-dull-blade" class="bmt_page bmt_page-ideas bmslug-ideas"> <header id="bm-top" class="header toolbar"> <div class="lc"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/" class="logo"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 830 147" role="img" aria-label="Big Medium" preserveAspectRatio="xMaxYMax meet"><title>Big Medium</title><desc>Big Medium logo</desc><defs><symbol id="bmlogo"><g fill="#000" fill-rule="evenodd"><path id="bmlogo-arrow" d="M56 9.94V0h32v30h-9.94V17.394L62.456 33 55 25.545 70.606 9.94"/><path class="bmlogo" d="M0 0v116h88V40H46V0H0zm36 10H10v96h68V50H36V10zM144 0h-10v95l-1 21h8l2-10c3.874 6.617 10.956 12 23 12 20.618 0 29-17.023 29-38v-4c0-21.292-8.382-38.316-29-38-11.033-.316-17.97 4.34-22 10V0zm0 59c3.064-5.16 9.046-12 20-12 14.142 0 21 11.352 21 29v4c0 17.648-6.858 29-21 29-10.954 0-16.936-6.84-20-12V59zm69 57h10V39h-10v77zM224 8h-13v13h13V8zm68 109c.016 13.62-5.33 21.158-20 21-14.38.158-19.872-7.09-20-22h-10v2c.445 16.1 7.96 29 30 29 21.895 0 30.133-12.61 30-30V61l1-21h-8l-2 10c-3.874-6.637-10.956-12-23-12-20.473 0-29 16.38-29 36v3c0 19.414 8.527 35.503 29 36 11.033-.497 17.825-4.846 22-11v15zm0-58v32c-3.2 5.216-9.014 12-20 12-14.02 0-21-10.392-21-26v-4c0-15.32 6.98-26 21-26 10.986 0 16.8 6.784 20 12zm156 58V61c0-14.677-7.67-23-21-23-12.868 0-20.54 5.84-25 13-2.487-8.473-9.29-13-19-13-12.434 0-19.96 5.55-24 12l-2-10h-8l1 22v55h10V59c3.184-5.083 8.395-11.8 19-12 8.79.2 14.868 3.558 15 15v55h10V59c3.184-5.083 8.395-11.8 19-12 8.79.2 14.868 3.558 15 15v55h10zm81-35v-6c0-20.9-9.765-38-32-38-22.944 0-33 17.1-33 38v4c0 20.9 10.056 38 33 38 22.09 0 32-13.768 32-26h-10c.235 8.03-6.177 17.45-22 17-15.074.45-22.215-9.986-23-27h55zm-33-36c14.618 0 21.42 10.484 22 27h-44c.434-16.516 7.526-27 22-27zm76-8c-20.618-.316-29 16.708-29 38v4c0 20.977 8.382 38 29 38 11.9 0 19.126-5.383 23-12l1 10h9l-1-21V0h-10v48c-4.175-5.66-10.967-10.316-22-10zm3 71c-14.167 0-21-11.352-21-29v-4c0-17.648 6.833-29 21-29 10.84 0 16.8 6.84 20 12v38c-3.2 5.16-9.16 12-20 12zm50 7h10V39h-10v77zM636 8h-13v13h13V8zm18 31v54c0 14.632 7.973 25 23 25 13.386 0 21.65-5.55 26-12l2 10h8l-1-22V39h-10v58c-3.206 4.937-9.15 11.8-21 12-10.474-.2-16.998-5.603-17-17V39h-10zm176 78V61c0-14.677-7.67-23-21-23-12.868 0-20.54 5.84-25 13-2.487-8.473-9.29-13-19-13-12.434 0-19.96 5.55-24 12l-2-10h-8l1 22v55h10V59c3.184-5.083 8.395-11.8 19-12 8.79.2 14.868 3.558 15 15v55h10V59c3.184-5.083 8.395-11.8 19-12 8.79.2 14.868 3.558 15 15v55h10z"/></g></symbol></defs><use xlink:href="#bmlogo"></use></svg> </a> <nav class="bmw_navigation bmn_hnav" role="navigation"> <div class="bmn_skipnav"><a href="#bm-skipnavtop">Skip Navigation</a></div> <ul> <li class="bmn_sec-ideas bmn_active"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/">Ideas</a></li> <li class="bmn_sec-projects"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/projects/">Projects</a></li> <li class="bmn_sec-speaking"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/speaking/">Talks</a></li> <li class="bmn_sec-about"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/about/">About</a></li> <li class="bmn_sec-hire"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/hire/">Hire Us</a></li> </ul> <span class="bmn_clearNav" id="bm-skipnavtop"> </span> </nav> <div class="powertools"> <a href="#" class="icon icon-microphone icon-utility" title="speech commands" id="toggleSpeech">Speak</a> <a href="#" id="toggleSearch" class="icon icon-search icon-utility" title="search">Search</a> <a href="#nav" id="toggleMenu" class="icon icon-menu icon-utility" title="menu">Menu</a>  <form action="https://bigmedium.com/cgi-bin/moxiebin/bm-search.cgi/q/3" method="get" class="bmw_search" enctype="multipart/form-data" accept-charset="utf-8"><div> <input type="search" name="bmq" placeholder="Search" value="" /> <button type="submit" class="icon icon-search icon-utility">Search</button> <input type="hidden" name="bms" value="3" /> </div></form>  </div> </div> </header> <main role="main"> <article class="article"> <header class="page-header"> <div class="page-icon"> <div class="lc"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="1600" height="1600" viewBox="0 0 1200 1200"><path fill="#fff" d="m1137.9 199.22-62.25 341.86a31.415 31.415 0 0 1-13.031 20.531 31.297 31.297 0 0 1-23.812 4.922c-17.203-3.188-28.594-19.641-25.453-36.844l62.297-342c2.906-17.906-3-36.141-15.844-48.984s-31.031-18.703-48.984-15.844l-288 52.78v.048A96.118 96.118 0 0 0 659.964 216l-336.84 505.69 54.703 54.609 517.36-516.74c12.562-11.812 32.203-11.484 44.391.703 12.234 12.188 12.516 31.875.703 44.438l-518.02 518.02 54.703 54.609 296.16-197.63a31.772 31.772 0 0 1 24.938-7.36c9 1.266 17.016 6.282 22.031 13.828 5.016 7.547 6.61 16.875 4.313 25.641-2.344 8.766-8.25 16.125-16.36 20.203l-285.37 191.16 2.532 2.532a79.137 79.137 0 0 1 23.438 56.203c0 21.14-8.438 41.344-23.438 56.25l-27.938 27.938c-14.906 15-35.11 23.438-56.25 23.438a79.135 79.135 0 0 1-56.203-23.438l-41.297-41.297-117.61 94.078c-40.594 33.89-100.36 31.219-137.76-6.188-37.406-37.406-40.078-97.172-6.235-137.81l-.703-1.922 94.078-117.61-40.922-40.875c-14.906-14.953-23.297-35.203-23.297-56.297s8.39-41.344 23.297-56.297l27.938-27.938h.047c31.547-29.906 81-29.906 112.55 0l2.531 2.625 329.86-495.24c23.953-35.672 61.312-60.188 103.55-67.922l288.61-52.78c38.391-6.563 77.578 5.905 105.09 33.468a119.876 119.876 0 0 1 33.375 105.14zM281.82 313.55h31.781v31.781l.047.047c-.563 8.719 2.578 17.344 8.578 23.719s14.391 10.03 23.156 10.03 17.156-3.655 23.156-10.03 9.14-15 8.578-23.72V313.55h31.781c8.766.562 17.391-2.531 23.766-8.578 6.375-6 10.031-14.391 10.031-23.156s-3.656-17.156-10.03-23.156-15-9.094-23.767-8.578h-31.78V218.3c.562-8.766-2.579-17.344-8.579-23.766-6-6.375-14.391-9.985-23.156-9.985s-17.156 3.61-23.156 9.985c-6 6.422-9.14 15-8.578 23.766v31.78H281.82c-8.719-.515-17.344 2.579-23.72 8.579s-10.03 14.39-10.03 23.156 3.656 17.156 10.03 23.156c6.376 6.047 15 9.14 23.72 8.578zm699.14 254.29h-31.781v-31.781c.516-8.766-2.578-17.391-8.578-23.766-6.047-6.375-14.391-10.031-23.203-10.031-8.766 0-17.156 3.656-23.156 10.031s-9.094 15-8.578 23.766v31.781h-31.781c-8.766-.563-17.344 2.578-23.72 8.578-6.421 6-10.03 14.391-10.03 23.156s3.61 17.156 10.03 23.156c6.376 6 14.954 9.14 23.72 8.578h31.78v31.828c-.515 8.719 2.579 17.344 8.579 23.72s14.39 10.03 23.156 10.03c8.812 0 17.156-3.656 23.203-10.03 6-6.376 9.094-15 8.578-23.72v-31.828h31.781c8.766.563 17.344-2.578 23.719-8.578 6.422-6 10.031-14.39 10.031-23.156s-3.61-17.156-10.031-23.156c-6.375-6-14.953-9.14-23.719-8.578zM853.88 949.21h-31.781v-31.828c0-17.531-14.25-31.781-31.828-31.781s-31.781 14.25-31.781 31.781v31.828h-31.688a31.49 31.49 0 0 0-23.719 8.578c-6.422 6-10.031 14.391-10.031 23.156s3.61 17.156 10.031 23.156c6.375 6 14.953 9.094 23.719 8.578h31.688v31.312c0 17.578 14.203 31.781 31.781 31.781s31.828-14.203 31.828-31.78v-31.313h31.781c8.766.516 17.344-2.578 23.719-8.578 6.422-6 10.031-14.39 10.031-23.156s-3.61-17.156-10.031-23.156a31.489 31.489 0 0 0-23.719-8.578z"/></svg> </div> </div> <div class="lc">  <a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/sentient-design/" class="kicker">sentient design</a>   <h1 class="bmw_headline">Has the “AI Edge” Become a Dull Blade?</h1>   <h2 class="bmw_byline">By <a href="https://bigmedium.com/about/veronika-kindred.html" class="bmc_byline">Veronika Kindred</a> <br /> <span class="bmc_bylineTitle">Associate Producer, Big Medium</span> </h2>   <span class="bmw_pubdate">Published Jul 30, 2024</span>  </div> </header> <div class="lc maincontent"> <section class="bodycontent">  <div class="bmw_pageContent"> <aside class="aside media-right"> <p>This essay is part of <a href="/bm.tags/sentient-design/">a series about Sentient Design</a>, the already-here future of intelligent interfaces and AI-mediated experiences.</p> <h3 class="u--zero-bottom-margin">The book</h3> <p><cite>Sentient Design</cite> by Josh Clark with Veronika Kindred will be published by <a href="https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/sentient-design/">Rosenfeld Media</a>.</p> <h3 class="u--zero-bottom-margin">The talk</h3> <p class="u--zero-bottom-margin"><a href="/speaking/sentient-design-josh-clark-talk.html"><img src="/bm.pix/josh-clark-casual-intelligence.4x3-500.jpg" width="600" height="375" alt="Photo of Josh Clark speaking in front of a screen that says, "Get cozy with casual intelligence"" style="width:100%; max-width:324px;" /></a></p> <p class="bm-caption"><a href="/speaking/sentient-design-josh-clark-talk.html">Watch Josh Clark's talk “Sentient Design”</a></p> <h3 class="u--zero-bottom-margin">Need help?</h3> <p>If you’re working on strategy, design, or development of AI-powered products, we do that! <a href="/hire/">Get in touch.</a></p> </aside> <p>It’s already become a tired cliche: “AI won’t take your job, but someone using AI will.” The phrase is starting to feel overstated because AI, while helpful, isn’t proving to be as revolutionary as its proponents promised… but it is becoming an everyday technology.</p> <p>At first it felt like AI gave us, the tech savvy, an edge. What happens now that recruiters, bosses, and peers have caught on and AI has become the expectation? In <a href="https://rosenfeldmedia.com/events/futures/sessions/the-ai-edge-from-researcher-to-strategist/">Fisayo Osilaja’s recent talk</a> at the Rosenfeld Futures: “Designing with AI” conference, Osilaja discussed how she used AI to catapult her career from researcher to strategist—a “super researcher.” In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uLSDbh6M_U">Amy Webb’s 2024 SXSW talk</a>, Webb talked about how AI could be used by attendees to generate SXSW roundup reports for their higher-ups. She even joked that attendees could use the time they saved to sip margaritas. But will 2024’s tequila time carry over to next year– when everyone else is using the same AI time savers, too? </p> <p>I was a college senior when OpenAI released ChatGPT in late November 2022. On campus, this meant that a powerfully accessible AI tool was unleashed just in time for finals. It could summarize the books you hadn’t read, write code you hadn’t bothered to learn, and write essays you hadn’t gotten to yet. December 2022 was a short but golden age of plagiarism for many of my classmates; teachers had already written or planned their final exams, and tools to detect if students had used AI were not yet widespread.</p> <p>By spring 2023, the next finals season, the sun had mostly set on rampant AI plagiarism. Teachers were redesigning their exams to make it harder to cheat, and there were hosts of software platforms that promised to catch their students if they did. But, students still use AI. The typical student might not be turning in work straight as it’s generated (or maybe they are), but they’re certainly using it in their workflow. Etiquette is forming, and norms have been established. Most importantly, it’s not the students who adopted the technology first who benefit the most from AI in the post AI-plagiarism era, but those who found a good place for it in their workflow.</p> <p>Are we in the golden age of sneaky workplace AI? The same cycle I experienced in school seems to be happening in the workplace, now complicated by an undercurrent of corporate anxiety. According to a May 2024 <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/ai-at-work-is-here-now-comes-the-hard-part#section2">study by Microsoft</a>, 75% of knowledge workers are using AI at work. Seventy-eight percent of those AI users are incorporating tools into their work that are not provided by their employers, a phenomenon the study’s authors have dubbed BYOAI. Just under half of those AI users started using AI at work in the past six months. These numbers are probably low: the same study shows that 52% of people who use AI at work are reluctant to admit to using it for their most important tasks. Fifty-three percent say they worry that using AI on important work tasks makes them look replaceable.</p> <p>There’s an irony here: at a time when C-levels are actively trying to realize efficiencies with AI; individuals are tentatively doing so in their own personal practice—but they’re not sure if that’s okay. Is it cheating to use AI, or is it a savvy way to get an edge? As a result, there’s an unreported pocket of productivity that individual employees are silently mining—and not telling their bosses.</p> <p>The unreported nature of this productivity will change as AI use in the workplace is normalized and as etiquette regarding AI’s use becomes formalized. Just as it happened on school campuses in 2022, hidden use of AI will yield to open use as norms are established. That normalization is already starting to happen. Those that benefit the most will be the ones who find appropriate places for the tool in their workflow. AI-powered tools are becoming everyday productivity tools like spreadsheets and word processors. That’s a good thing, by the way: technology tends to become more powerful as it becomes more ordinary.</p> <p>So now what? The competitive edge of early adoption will fade quickly: Alas, when everyone’s special, nobody’s special. No sneaking off for solo margarita celebrations anymore. The AI advantages (and celebrations) that are more likely to emerge are at the team and organizational level. While AI might be giving the tech-savvy an edge for now, employers and peers will soon adapt. While my time at school showed me how individuals can benefit from AI integration, my research at Big Medium is showing that workplace adoption of AI is less about creating an individual competitive edge—that blade is getting blunter with every new adopter—but more about how adoption by a team can speed and elevate the work of everyone. So how can your team realize these benefits?</p> <p>We’re finding that these elevations happen when:</p> <ol> <li><p><strong>Teams normalize the use of AI tools in everyday work.</strong> Teams who are open about their AI use and communicate their personal innovations will see the whole team progress faster. Openness, communication, and regular use breeds innovation.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Teams can adapt processes and workflow to accommodate AI.</strong> Thoughtful teams consider their own strengths and weaknesses as well as their tools’. How can AI fill in for parts of a process that the team is not good at? What is the team much better at than AI? When is the human in the loop?</p></li> <li><p><strong>Organizers establish clear guidelines and quality expectations for AI-supported work, including transparency and QA.</strong></p></li> </ol> <p>These are all themes that we’re following in adapting our own design and development processes at Big Medium. You can get a peek at how that plays out by watching our recent <a href="https://bigmedium.com/speaking/ai-and-design-systems-virtual-event.html">AI and Design Systems online event</a>.</p> <p>AI brings the opportunity to elevate the work of the whole workplace, not just the individual. If business is focused on efficiency, let’s realize those dividends in better results and higher revenues that benefit all of us. Just as it doesn’t help students to use AI to completely take over their homework, we can see that AI works best in the workplace as an enabler more than a replacement for critical human tasks. Indeed, the core principle of <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/hello-sentient-design.html">Sentient Design</a> is that AI should amplify our agency and judgment instead of replacing them. AI may not be revolutionary, but it’s powerfully evolutionary in elevating the everyday work we all do—together.</p> <hr /> <p><em>Looking for help on the strategy, design, or development of AI-powered products and features? That’s what we do! <a href="/hire/">Get in touch</a> to learn more about our engagements, workshops, and Sentient Design sprints, or <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/big-medium-newsletter.html">sign up for our newsletter</a> to keep up with everything Big Medium is sharing about AI and Sentient Design.</em></p> </div>   </section> <section class="moreinfo">  <h3>Read more about...</h3> <ul class="bmw_tags"> <li><a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/sentient-design/">sentient design</a></li> <li><a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/ai/" rel="tag">ai</a></li> <li><a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/culture/" rel="tag">culture</a></li> <li><a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/design/" rel="tag">design</a></li> <li><a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/work/" rel="tag">work</a></li> </ul>  </section> </div> </article> </main> <section class="touts"> <div class="lc u--zero-pad"> <div class="standard-margin touts-3up"> <h2><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/" class="kicker kicker--invert">Ideas</a></h2>  <div class="tout-links tout-links--latest tout-links--sec-ideas"> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1685"> <div class="bma_mediatop"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/workshop-sentient-design-ai-experiences.html" class="bma_thumb"><img src="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentent-design-workshop.4x3-250.png" class="bma_thumb" alt="Four devices lighting up with Sentient Design and machine intelligence" srcset="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentent-design-workshop.4x3-2000.png 1200w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentent-design-workshop.4x3-1000.png 1000w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentent-design-workshop.4x3-500.png 500w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentent-design-workshop.4x3-250.png 250w" sizes="(min-width: 1050px) 449px, 50vw" /></a> </div> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/events-workshops/" class="kicker kicker--tout kicker--invert">events & workshops</a> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/workshop-sentient-design-ai-experiences.html" title="Workshop: Craft AI-Powered Experiences with Sentient Design" rel="bookmark">Workshop: Craft AI-Powered Experiences with Sentient Design</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">Reserve a private workshop to teach your product and design teams to imagine, design, and deliver AI-powered features and products.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1698"> <div class="bma_mediatop"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/design-system-governance-bugs-design-discrepancies.html" class="bma_thumb"><img src="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/governance.4x3-250.png" class="bma_thumb" alt="Point" srcset="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/governance.4x3-2000.png 1066w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/governance.4x3-1000.png 1000w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/governance.4x3-500.png 500w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/governance.4x3-250.png 250w" sizes="(min-width: 1050px) 449px, 50vw" /></a> </div> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/design-system/" class="kicker kicker--tout kicker--invert">design system</a> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/design-system-governance-bugs-design-discrepancies.html" title="“The Design System Isn't Working for Me!”" rel="bookmark">“The Design System Isn't Working for Me!”</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">What’s going on when a design system’s can’t get it to do what they need? How to manage bugs, missing features, intentional design deviations, new patterns, and more.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1687"> <div class="bma_mediatop"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/your-sparkles-are-fizzling.html" class="bma_thumb"><img src="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sparkles-wilting.4x3-250.png" class="bma_thumb" alt="Illustration of sparkles wilting on the vine" srcset="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sparkles-wilting.4x3-2000.png 1200w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sparkles-wilting.4x3-1000.png 1000w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sparkles-wilting.4x3-500.png 500w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sparkles-wilting.4x3-250.png 250w" sizes="(min-width: 1050px) 449px, 50vw" /></a> </div> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/icons/" class="kicker kicker--tout kicker--invert">icons</a> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/your-sparkles-are-fizzling.html" title="Your Sparkles Are Fizzling" rel="bookmark">Your Sparkles Are Fizzling</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">Let’s retire the sparkle emoji, purple hues, and rainbow gradients for AI-powered features.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1686"> <div class="bma_mediatop"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/data-whisperer-pinocchio-sentient-design.html" class="bma_thumb"><img src="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/pinocchio-2.4x3-250.png" class="bma_thumb" alt="Illustration of Pinocchio with AI sparkles-2" srcset="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/pinocchio-2.4x3-2000.png 1200w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/pinocchio-2.4x3-1000.png 1000w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/pinocchio-2.4x3-500.png 500w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/pinocchio-2.4x3-250.png 250w" sizes="(min-width: 1050px) 449px, 50vw" /></a> </div> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/sentient-design/" class="kicker kicker--tout kicker--invert">sentient design</a> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/data-whisperer-pinocchio-sentient-design.html" title="Data Whisperers, Pinocchios, and Sentient Design" rel="bookmark">Data Whisperers, Pinocchios, and Sentient Design</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">Podcasts from PDFs! Working code from pen-and-paper sketches! Discover the new AI-powered design patterns that liberate content from frozen formats—and create new experience paradigms.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1684"> <div class="bma_mediatop"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/the-already-here-future-of-prototyping.html" class="bma_thumb"><img src="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/lightbulb.4x3-250.png" class="bma_thumb" alt="A lightbulb with a right-facing arrow pointing towards three cogs" srcset="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/lightbulb.4x3-2000.png 1066w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/lightbulb.4x3-1000.png 1000w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/lightbulb.4x3-500.png 500w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/lightbulb.4x3-250.png 250w" sizes="(min-width: 1050px) 449px, 50vw" /></a> </div> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/ai/" class="kicker kicker--tout kicker--invert">ai</a> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/the-already-here-future-of-prototyping.html" title="The Already-Here Future of Prototyping" rel="bookmark">The Already-Here Future of Prototyping</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">With LLM tools like ChatGPT and Claude, it’s easier than ever for anyone — including and perhaps especially non-developers — to develop ideas in code.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1665"> <div class="bma_mediatop"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/hello-sentient-design.html" class="bma_thumb"><img src="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentient-design-hello.4x3-250.png" class="bma_thumb" alt="Illustration of four computers and devices lighting up with Sentient Design awareness" srcset="https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentient-design-hello.4x3-2000.png 1200w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentient-design-hello.4x3-1000.png 1000w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentient-design-hello.4x3-500.png 500w, https://bigmedium.com/bm.pix/sentient-design-hello.4x3-250.png 250w" sizes="(min-width: 1050px) 449px, 50vw" /></a> </div> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/bm.tags/sentient-design/" class="kicker kicker--tout kicker--invert">sentient design</a> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/hello-sentient-design.html" title="Say Hello to Sentient Design" rel="bookmark">Say Hello to Sentient Design</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">Sentient Design is the already-here future of intelligent interfaces and AI-mediated experiences. Discover this framework and philosophy for working with AI as a design material.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="continue"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/" class="btn btn--next"> <span class="btn-arrow-text--right">More Ideas</span> </a> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section class="touts"> <div class="lc u--zero-pad"> <div class="standard-margin touts-simple"> <h2><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/links/" class="kicker kicker--invert">What We’re Reading</a></h2>  <div class="tout-links tout-links--latest tout-links--sec-links"> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1699 bmw_link--noimage"> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/links/when-combinations-of-humans-and-ai-are-useful.html" title="When Combinations of Humans and A.I. are Useful" rel="bookmark">When Combinations of Humans and A.I. are Useful</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">A research study raises challenging questions about collaborative AI interfaces, including the value of “human in the loop” interfaces and explanations of AI logic and confidence scores.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1694 bmw_link--noimage"> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/links/ai-pioneer-thinks-ai-is-dumber-than-a-cat.html" title="This AI Pioneer Thinks AI Is Dumber Than a Cat" rel="bookmark">This AI Pioneer Thinks AI Is Dumber Than a Cat</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">AI pioneer Yann LeCun reminds us that just because LLMs are good at language doesn’t mean that they’re smart.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1693 bmw_link--noimage"> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/links/beware-of-botshit.html" title="Beware of Botshit" rel="bookmark">Beware of Botshit</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">Botshit is hallucinated content that makes its way into human communications or screws up decision making.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1692 bmw_link--noimage"> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/links/radically-adaptive-world-model-ethan-mollick.html" title="A Radically Adaptive World Model" rel="bookmark">A Radically Adaptive World Model</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">A research project generates a world based on Counter-Strike, frame by frame in response to your actions. What happens when you apply the same thinking to the design of websites, dashboards, or canvas apps?</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1691 bmw_link--noimage"> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/links/exploring-the-ai-solution-space-jorge-arango.html" title="Exploring the AI Solution Space" rel="bookmark">Exploring the AI Solution Space</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">Jorge Arango explores what it means for machine intelligence to be “used well” and, in particular, questions the current fascination with general-purpose, open-ended chat interfaces.</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bmw_link bma_page1688 bmw_link--noimage"> <div class="bma_body"> <div class="bma_body-wrap"> <h3 class="bma_head"><a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/links/salesforce-generative-canvas.html" title="Introducing Generative Canvas" rel="bookmark">Introducing Generative Canvas</a></h3> <div class="bma_desc">Salesforce is piloting a radically adaptive, AI-mediated dashboard for CRM users. Look out, enterprise, here comes Sentient Design.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="continue"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/links/" class="btn btn--next"> <span class="btn-arrow-text--right">More Links</span> </a> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id="nav" class="prefooter"> <div class="toolbar"> <div class="lc"> <a href="https://bigmedium.com/" class="logo"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 830 147" role="img" aria-label="Big Medium" preserveAspectRatio="xMaxYMax meet"><title>Big Medium</title><desc>Big Medium logo</desc><use xlink:href="#bmlogo" id="footerLogo" /></svg> </a> <a href="#bm-top" id="BackToTop" class="icon icon-menu-up icon-utility">Back to top</a> </div> </div> <div class="lc">  <form action="https://bigmedium.com/cgi-bin/moxiebin/bm-search.cgi/q/3" method="get" class="bmw_search" enctype="multipart/form-data" accept-charset="utf-8"><div> <input type="search" name="bmq" placeholder="Search" value="" /> <button type="submit" class="icon icon-search icon-utility">Search</button> <input type="hidden" name="bms" value="3" /> </div></form>  <nav class="bmw_navigation bmn_hnav" role="navigation"> <div class="bmn_skipnav"><a href="#bm-skipnavbottom">Skip Navigation</a></div> <ul> <li class="bmn_sec-ideas bmn_active"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/ideas/">Ideas</a></li> <li class="bmn_sec-projects"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/projects/">Projects</a></li> <li class="bmn_sec-speaking"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/speaking/">Talks</a></li> <li class="bmn_sec-about"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/about/">About</a></li> <li class="bmn_sec-hire"><a title="" href="https://bigmedium.com/hire/">Hire Us</a></li> </ul> <span class="bmn_clearNav" id="bm-skipnavbottom"> </span> </nav> </div> </section>  <div class="bmw_footer"> <footer class="footer"> <div class="lc"> <div class="read-us"> <h3>Read us</h3> <ul> <li class="book-atomic"> <a href="https://atomicdesign.bradfrost.com"> <img src="/pix/atomic-design.png" alt="Atomic Design, by Brad Frost" /> </a> </li> <li class="book-touch"> <a href="http://abookapart.com/products/designing-for-touch"> <img src="/pix/designing-for-touch.png" alt="Designing for Touch, by Josh Clark" /> </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="hire-us"> <h3>Work with us</h3> <ul> <li><a href="/hire/#design-systems">Design systems</a></li> <li><a href="/hire/#ui-ux-design">Interface and experience design</a></li> <li><a href="/hire/#product-strategy-process">Digital strategy and process</a></li> <li><a href="/hire/#production">Production and co-creation</a></li> <li><a href="/hire/#action-plan">Action plan</a></li> <li><a href="/hire/#coaching">Coaching and hands-on advice</a></li> <li><a href="/hire/#workshops-talks">Workshops and talks</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="follow-us"> <h3>Follow us</h3> <h4>Get the <a href="/ideas/big-medium-newsletter.html">newsletter</a></h4> <div id="mc_embed_shell_bmfooter" class="bmc_mailchimp"> <div id="mc_embed_signup_bmfooter"> <form action="https://bigmedium.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=6c0c3f4dcd40d88bc1cedb3fa&id=7540015453&f_id=00d6c4eaf0" method="post" id="mc-embedded-subscribe-form_bmfooter" name="mc-embedded-subscribe-form" class="validate" target="_self" novalidate=""> <div id="mc_embed_signup_scroll_bmfooter"> <div class="mc-field-group"><label for="mce-EMAIL_bmfooter">Email Address</label><input type="email" name="EMAIL" class="required email" id="mce-EMAIL_bmfooter" required="" value=""></div> <div id="mce-responses_bmfooter" class="clear"> <div class="response" id="mce-error-response_bmfooter" style="display: none;"></div> <div class="response" id="mce-success-response_bmfooter" style="display: none;"></div> </div><div class="clear"><input type="submit" class="btn" name="subscribe" id="mc-embedded-subscribe_bmfooter" class="button" value="Subscribe"></div> </div> </form> </div> </div> <ul class="social"> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/bigmediumjosh" class="icon icon-twitter">Twitter</a></li> <li><a href="/bm.feed.xml" class="icon icon-rss">RSS</a></li> <li><a href="https://instagram.com/joshclark/" class="icon icon-instagram">Instagram</a></li> <li><a href="https://github.com/bigmedium" class="icon icon-github">Github</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="contact-us"> <h3>Contact us</h3> <div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization"> <div> <h4>Start with Josh Clark</h4> <meta itemprop="name" content="Big Medium" /> <meta itemprop="sameAs" content="https://bigmedium.com/" /> </div> <p > <a itemprop="email" href="mailto:josh@bigmedium.com">josh@bigmedium.com</a><br /> <a itemprop="telephone" href="tel:+14013393381" class="p-tel">(401) 339-3381</a> </p> </div> </div> <p class="copyright"> Big Medium is a Global Moxie company.<br /> Copyright 2003–2024 Global Moxie, LLC. All rights reserved. </p> </div> </footer> </div>  <script src="/js/bigmed-min.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> BigM.initPage(); </script> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

Has the “AI Edge” Become a Dull Blade? | Big Medium