Every designer has access to the same AI tools now. Same generators, same prototyping apps, same everything. And the output all kind of looks... the same. Rounded corners, soft shadows, card-based layouts. It's all competent. None of it is memorable.
The thing that still matters, the thing AI can't give you, is knowing when to say no. Looking at four generated options and immediately knowing three of them are wrong. Not because of any rule, but because something about the spacing or the hierarchy or the rhythm just doesn't sit right. That instinct is taste. And it's built over years of paying attention to details most people skip.
I think about this a lot as someone who uses AI constantly. The tools make me faster, but they don't make me better. What makes me better is the thousand hours I spent learning why certain things work and others don't. The AI gets me to 80% in minutes. The last 20% is all judgment. And that's the part people actually notice.