Designers are an endangered species. That’s what I thought the first time I used
By Jrichman · February 10, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Designers are an endangered species.
That’s what I thought the first time I used Midjourney.
If I can turn a prompt into a stunning visual in seconds, what does that mean for designers?
For craft?
For my daughter, the artist?
The barrier had fallen all the way down.
Suddenly a product manager like me could visually bring ideas to life.
No design handoff.
No waiting.
Then coding assistants showed up.
Now designers could prototype, ship, and test ideas without an engineer in the loop.
So… are engineers the endangered species?
And have you used an LLM to brainstorm product ideas lately?
Turns out they're pretty good at a lot of what PMs do every day.
Framing problems.
Exploring options.
Pressure-testing thinking.
So what’s left?
Designers can ship.
Engineers can PM.
PMs can design.
Here’s the twist:
I don't see any of these roles disappearing.
They’re being unbundled.
The tasks are getting cheaper.
The craft is getting rarer.
When everyone can generate visuals, design isn’t about pushing pixels.
It’s about taste.
Judgment.
Knowing what to make, and what not to.
When everyone can write code, engineering isn’t about syntax.
It’s about systems.
Tradeoffs.
Resilience.
When everyone can brainstorm, product isn’t about ideas.
It’s about choosing.
Sequencing.
Saying no.
AI isn't eliminating disciplines.
It's striping away the busywork and exposing the core.
AI isn't erasing roles.
It's raising the bar.
The people who thrive won’t be the ones protecting boundaries.
They’ll be the ones expanding them.