Many content designers feel the pressure of AI rapidly infiltrating their field, often without their say or input. Many of these designers realize sitting back isn’t an option. Content designers recognize the importance of shaping how AI is developed and utilized to ensure the creation of high-quality and inclusive digital content.
The real threat to content design jobs isn’t AI itself—it’s companies that don’t understand the true value of content designers.
When content design is viewed as nothing more than “word wrangling” or “text generation,” companies may turn to AI, missing the deeper, strategic work that content designers do.
Content designers aren’t just writers; they’re strategists who ensure that every piece of content—whether for an app, a website, or a crucial user prompt—is crafted with accessibility, clarity, tone, and user experience in mind. Content designers develop content tailored to specific contexts, guiding users to communicate clearly and integrate seamlessly into the overall experience. While AI can generate words, content designers give those words purpose and precision.
Therefore, if AI is to be integrated into content design, content designers must remain deeply involved in its development and implementation. Their expertise ensures digital experiences remain human-centered, relevant, and ethical.
Here are some key reasons why content designers are irreplaceable.
- Human insight can’t be automated. Content designers have a deep understanding of user behavior. They know how to write content that genuinely resonates with people, something AI can’t replicate. This human empathy and insight are irreplaceable.
- Content design is more than just text generation. Content designers do much more than write text—they shape information to ensure accessibility, clarity, tone, style, and context, ensuring that every piece fits the needs of specific users and situations. AI can generate text, but can’t tailor content to every context or ensure it integrates smoothly into the overall user experience.
- The human perspective is essential. AI can process vast amounts of data, but it lacks emotional intelligence. Content designers understand the nuances of tone, empathy, and context, which are essential for creating messages that genuinely connect with users.
- AI is just a tool, not a solution. On its own, AI doesn’t understand user needs or how to create content that resonates with them. Content designers can help fine-tune AI-generated content, ensuring that what it generates is valuable and user-focused. Human oversight is crucial to ensuring AI works effectively.
- Collaboration is key. Content designers don’t work in isolation—they’re part of a bigger team, collaborating closely with UX, development, and product teams. AI might assist with content, but it can’t replace the collaborative process that ensures content aligns with a project’s larger goals.
- AI requires high-quality content to perform effectively. It needs to be trained on high-quality, accessible content to be useful. Content designers play a crucial role in curating and maintaining this content, ensuring that AI produces reliable, accurate and user-focused results.
- AI’s creativity has limits. While AI can be a productivity booster, its reliance on existing data and lack of human insight limit its ability to innovate. And let’s not forget—it still hallucinates, often producing inaccurate or misleading content. That’s where designers step in to catch mistakes and ensure AI adds real value.
- We need to be real about AI. AI is often overhyped as a magical fix, but it’s unpredictable and sometimes unreliable. Honest conversations about what AI can and can’t do help set the right expectations and show why human oversight is still necessary.
- Content needs constant care. Even if an AI model is trained on your content, it requires regular maintenance. Content design standards evolve, user needs change, and information can quickly become outdated. Without regular updates, AI-generated content will lose relevance and accuracy.
- AI can perpetuate biases. If left unchecked, AI can unintentionally reinforce biases in the data it’s trained on. Content designers play a crucial role in identifying and resolving these issues, ensuring that AI-generated content is fair, ethical, and unbiased.
Insights from Chelsea Larsson
Chelsea Larsson, Head of Content at Anthropic, was kind enough to share valuable insights on the intersection of content design and AI. As a creative leader, Chelsea utilizes language and design to make products feel more relatable and human. She builds AI travel tools with a strong focus on content design. She is passionate about model design, content strategy, building high-performing design teams, and fostering ethical, user-centered LLM-based experiences.
In this conversation, Chelsea addresses several key questions about how content designers can navigate and shape the evolving role of AI in content creation.
How do you think content designers and AI can best work together?
Chelsea: For me, it falls into three opportunity areas: using LLMs to generate content, designing LLM content through model design, and designing/writing the UI content for genAI product experiences. All three opportunities will yield higher-quality outputs if the “maker” has strong content sensibilities.
How do you think content designers can stay involved in shaping AI’s role in content creation, especially in companies that may undervalue their strategic contributions?
Chelsea: I hope CDs who don’t have space to make an impact in their role can find a better role—but that’s not always an option! If you are interested in AI and it’s not on your roadmap, what’s the next best action you can take? Befriend a machine learning scientist at your company. Explore the AI strategy plan to see if there’s an emergent content design opportunity. Discuss with your manager the possibility of testing internal LLM tools in your design work. Find a way, basically.
What are the biggest risks you see if AI is allowed to generate content without the involvement of content designers?
Chelsea: In general, a content tool built without the input of content experts is going to be a sub-par tool. Content Designers aren’t the only content experts out there, but we are readily available in the tech companies where AI is being developed. We are familiar with user groups, use cases, evaluation criteria for high-quality content, content challenges at scale, and the risks associated with non-compliant and non-inclusive content. You could do a lot worse than include a content designer in your core genAI product team.
As AI continues to impact content design, it’s clear that machines can’t replace content designers. Designers’ unique value lies in their ability to create content that’s functional, accessible, ethical, and aligned with real user needs. Without their expertise, AI risks producing content that lacks nuance, empathy, or even fairness, leading to experiences that feel disconnected from what users truly need. Content designers provide the human touch that makes the final product thoughtful, impactful, and, well, human.
