Figma’s AI Rethink: Design Meets Collaboration

Redesigning AI for Designers

Figma CEO Dylan Field is rethinking the company’s approach to integrating artificial intelligence after the rollout of its new “Make Design” tool sparked backlash from designers and sparked concerns around creative originality. Speaking with The Verge, Field shared how feedback—especially criticism over AI-generated UI that too closely mirrored Apple designs—prompted him to hit pause and re-evaluate not just features but the underlying philosophy. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should” is quickly becoming Figma’s north star for AI development, signaling a reflective turn away from flash toward utility. The goal is to support, not replace, designers—focusing on tools that enhance ideation, reduce repetitive tasks, and foster collaboration.

Designing a Human-Centric AI Future

Rather than chase headline-grabbing generative features, Field now wants to lean into AI tools that maintain the spirit of co-creation that originally propelled Figma’s success. That means working more closely with users and integrating AI in a way that prioritizes transparency, ethics, and control. With Field’s renewed leadership after a proposed Adobe acquisition fell through, Figma is repositioning itself not as an AI-first company but as one deeply rooted in augmenting human design intuition. This shift arrives at a critical moment when the design community is questioning what role AI should play—and whether creativity outsourced to algorithms is creativity at all.