Between the Hand and the Algorithm: Reclaiming Making in an Age of AI Acceleration

Between these two poles stretches an unstable and largely unexplored landscape of labour, authorship, and value. The next two to five years will be decisive. We will see seismic shifts, economic, pedagogical, cultural, and ethical. Entire workflows will be inverted. What counts as skill will be rewritten. The designer’s role will be questioned, contested, and reimagined. In such a climate, it is tempting for design schools to double down on software proficiency, integrate AI tools into briefs, and chase relevance through technological fluency.