# The Bull And Bear Case For Digital Design In The Age Of AI

DevFeed: [The Bull And Bear Case For Digital Design In The Age Of AI](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-bull-and-bear-case-for-digital-design-in-the-age-of-ai-4296.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://smashingmagazine.com/2026/07/bull-and-bear-case-digital-design-age-ai/>)

Author: hello@smashingmagazine.com (Andy Budd)

Published: 2026-07-29T13:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Articles on Smashing Magazine -- For Web Designers And Developers](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/articles-on-smashing-magazine-for-web-designers-and-developers.md>)

Topics: [Artificial Intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai.md>), [Figma](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/figma.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [career](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/career.md>), [design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design.md>), [digital-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/digital-design.md>), [leadership](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/leadership.md>), [opinion-column](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/opinion-column.md>), [product](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/product.md>), [product-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/product-design.md>)

## AI overview

The article examines how AI may change digital design by giving designers more autonomy to prototype, test, and ship improvements without waiting for product or engineering permission. It presents both the potential benefits of that freedom and the risks of exposing gaps in design practice.

## Source excerpt

As AI reshapes product design, it could give designers greater autonomy or expose the gaps that autonomy makes harder to hide. Exploring both the bull and bear cases, Andy Budd examines what happens when designers need less permission to act.