AI isn’t coming for designers. It’s coming for mediocrity.

A fascinating experiment recently pitted an experienced designer against a non-designer armed with AI tools in a head-to-head landing page design competition. (Link in post comments)

The results were illuminating: while the seasoned pro (expectedly) won, the AI-assisted novice remained competitive throughout the process, creating work that judges found “impressive enough”. The gap that once required years of training to bridge is now being narrowed by vibe-coding tools.

But this is far from a doomsday scenario some alarmists would like us to believe.

Yes, AI is lowering the barrier to entry in design. Anyone with access to these tools can now produce serviceable work. But the truly existential question isn't whether AI can help non-designers make passable websites.

The true opportunity lies in how professional designers can harness these same technologies to elevate their craft beyond what was previously possible.

Most designers are approaching AI defensively—learning just enough to stay relevant while hoping our "human creativity" will remain our differentiator. That approach is dangerously shortsighted. We need to fundamentally reimagine what design can be when augmented by these tools—creating work of such vision and sophistication that it establishes an entirely new standard.

The floor is indeed rising quickly. But who among us is seriously experimenting with how high the ceiling might go?