Photography unsettled painters. Motor vehicles changed work built around horses. Radio challenged performers. Television rattled film. And digital tools upended graphic design.
The pattern is familiar
Every technological shift creates opportunities and real losses. People are asked to refresh their skills, rethink their assumptions, and sometimes rebuild their professional identities.
It is tempting to argue that the new thing is inferior, or that the old thing will always have a place. Sometimes both claims are true. Neither is much of a strategy on its own.
What stays valuable?
I’ve found it more productive to ask which problems still need solving and which human capabilities help solve them.
A tool can change the economics of production without eliminating the need for judgment, context, accountability, or taste. But it can also change who gets to exercise those capabilities. That is worth taking seriously.
Choose a response
AI is another such moment. I don’t think we get to decide whether it arrives. We do get to decide how deliberately we adapt to it.