But good news! There’s tons of unexplored territory for designers to claim—and a healthy future for the field. Josh and Veronika spent the hour showing an alternative to the anxiety. Their new book Sentient Design shares how to apply AI as a material that elevates design—instead of a tool that replaces it. “This is the most excited I’ve been in my career about what we can make,” Josh said.

What we got into

Design Better listeners brought questions about AI in regulated industries, the politics of role-flattening teams, how to get beyond chatbots and make the case for Sentient Design’s new experiences. We discuss:

• Why “AI innovation” in design has mostly been a race to the bottom — and where the real creative opportunity actually lives.

• AI as a design material instead of a tool: weaving intelligence into the interface rather than slapping a chatbot on the side.

• How Sentient Design unlocks the adaptive interfaces and personalization we’ve talked about for decades.

• The spectrum of Sentient Design, from “casual intelligence” that eases familiar interactions to experiences invented as you explore them.

• Defensive design in regulated industries: what’s safe, what’s not, and the patterns that give users confidence in the difference.

• How AI flattens the roles of design, product, and development — and the very real politics it stirs up inside big orgs.

• Why “just add a chatbot” is the crummy default—and how to make the case for something better.

• Knowing when *not* to use AI.

Quotable

Josh: “We’ve been talking about adaptive interfaces and personalization for decades, and we’ve been kind of lame at it. Now we have a technology that lets us do the stuff we’ve been talking about forever — and instead we’re talking about committing code faster.”

Veronika: “All the innovation has been happening around speed and process. That’s a race to the bottom.”

Josh: “Good, fast, cheap — pick two. Hang on a second: fast and cheap are commodities now. All that’s left is good.”

Veronika: “Part of gaining literacy in these tools is also deciding when _not_ to use them. Sometimes it’s just better to use pen and paper.”

Veronika: “A truly radically adaptive interface is a completely personal experience — the same way every time you talk to Claude, that’s a completely unique experience.”

Learn more

Sentient Design will be published on June 9, 2026. The book is available at 15% discount from Rosenfeld Media during the pre-order period. Between June 9 and July 9, Design Better listeners can extend the discount using code SENTIENTDB at checkout.

Josh and Veronika publish regularly at bigmedium.com and in Big Medium’s occasional email newsletter.

Follow along on LinkedIn:

• Josh Clark

• Veronika Kindred

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