Every field eventually reaches a moment when one of its founding figures begins speaking in a different register. Not necessarily a different idea. A different tone.

Recently, the usability pioneer Jakob Nielsen published a long reflection on AI and the future of UX work. On the surface, it reads like a technical forecast. AI coding is accelerating. Design tools are improving. Exponential scaling will smooth out today’s weaknesses. The familiar workflow of usability engineering (i.e., manual testing, heuristic evaluation, iterative design) may soon be automated away.

Is it ARTIFICIAL intelligence or AUGMENTED intelligence?

The truth? It depends on the design's purpose. An organization’s purpose is informed by its values and profit motivation. Artificial intelligence aims to create autonomous systems that can perform tasks without human intervention, while augmented intelligence seeks to enhance human capabilities by providing AI-powered tools and assistance.