ai
Artificial Intelligence and the old promise of the emancipatory machine, from the washing machine, the personal computer, the internet, and social media.
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There's an entity that feeds on meaning and leaves something that resembles meaning without carrying it. It consumes the original, the rare and unrepeatable thing, and circulates the degraded copy in its place. Strange things are happening on the internet, so be careful!
design autonomy
Design knows how to make things that do not yet exist. The work ahead may be to apply that capacity to the profession's own institutional life
critical design
UX is pronounced dead every day. You probably read the headlines. And of course you don't believe them, but have you noticed something is currently... off, regardless?
critical design
Let's theorize design responses towards emerging and interconnected crises in 2026.
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Just before we wrap up 2025, we take a dive into a critical history of AI. This is an extended version of a short talk I gave in Helsinki at an event called Critical AI.
The spaces where we once gathered to imagine alternatives have been systematically dismantled. Empty buildings sit locked while communities search for places to meet. The architecture of possibility must be constructed and we have work to do.
critical design
What is critical design and can it provide the lead for better sensemaking? We explore how critical design as cultural cartography makes visible the social relations that commercial design naturalizes, creating entry points into complex discussions about values, power, and futures.
Listen, there are two realities that we should be aware of. AI exists to make your job obsolete because the alternative is that AI makes managers obsolete. Let me try to break down this theory, which is very simple in its premise: those who control the technology will never allow
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Today's design leader holds an impossible position, performing care work within extractive systems that optimize for engagement over well-being. This cannot be resolved through better processes or ethical frameworks; it should be a condition within which design's potential emerges.
Curiously, art gravitates toward questioning and dissent because art's essential function is to make the familiar strange, revealing the contingency hiding beneath what appears natural and inevitable. This is why radical art like Picasso's Guernica retains its urgent vitality across decades.
Substack's latest steps illustrate a predictable trend for venture-backed platforms. Migrating from Substack to Ghost despite the real costs demonstrates a refusal to adhere to platform discipline. Writers must choose between optimizing for audience size and keeping ownership of their work.
Fragments of care and responsible design
A professional journey from craft to commodity
When half of the public believes your technology is the problem
Narratives of contrasting but converging approaches
Designing while the red light keeps flashing
How tech workers can prefigure economic democracy
And the deskilling of knowledge workers
Asimov's warning was not taken seriously...
Welcome to the tenth edition of "Three Signals to the Future", a newsletter where I share resources that I find useful and thought-provoking. Let's dive into the latest discoveries.
