FigmaOn why design is the new code, shaping AI’s creative output, and the human vision and judgment behind what we make.
Share In conversation: Dylan Field and David Friedberg on the human role in creating with AI
Dylan FieldCo-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Figma
David FriedbergCEO, Ohalo Genetics; Co-host, All-In Podcast As AI makes it easier to turn an idea into a working product, where does human creativity fit in? Figma Co-founder and CEO Dylan Field recently joined David Friedberg, co-host of the All-In Podcast and CEO of Ohalo Genetics, to explore that question. In this excerpt from their broader conversation, they discuss why design and a distinct point of view matter, how product builders can shape what AI generates, and the choice between letting AI think for us and using it to expand what we can do.
David F.In a world of agentic AI, work that once required a product manager, a designer, and a team of engineers is increasingly being done by AI. Can you give me your view on the future of human creativity in this era of AI? Where does it play a role?
Dylan F.We’re lowering the floor with AI across all of production, whether it’s code, motion, video, you name it. Everyone can be part of that and [production] is more democratized. I used to believe that the ceiling would be raised by AI, that you’d be able to do greater things than before. That was wrong. AI is not raising the ceiling, humans are raising the ceiling. When the creatives and designers out there choose to be bold, invest their time, and try to do something that no one has ever done before, that’s when we see the ceiling raised.
And in the world of software design and product, we’re seeing exponentially more software than ever before. I think that speaks to a need to differentiate yourself. How do you do that? It’s not code because anyone can create code now. That’s not the hard part anymore. My view is that design is the new code. It’s the layer above. You have to make it so that your design is differentiated and you have to have a point of view.
David F.Is doing something new what human creativity is? If you’re not doing something that’s never been done before, you’re not creating something. You’re mimicking something. But to do something new is to create.
Dylan F.Yes. And doing something that’s unique and going to break through is going to be rewarded by the market. Everyone’s going to see it. I think that kind of work earns people’s attention inside organizations, too.
It’s also important to have a vision and a point of view. I think it’s great to start by building with AI. It gives you something to get past the blank canvas problem. You can then react to it and say, “Here are all the things I don’t like. I’m going to fix those things.” It’s helpful to have that back-and-forth.
But if you have your own vision and you’re trusting AI to implement it, you’re doing it through the lens of AI. So you’re not going to get exactly what you want. Now, if you’re able to start by building, you can use that building as a way of thinking. And when you want to think and work with your hands, you can do that too and go between the two rapidly. That’s what we’re trying to enable in Figma—making code a material on the canvas Today, code layers moves into open beta. Now teams can explore and build prototypes backed by code on the canvas.Design together with code layers on the canvas
When the creatives and designers out there choose to be bold, invest their time, and try to do something that no one has ever done before, that’s when we see the ceiling raised.“When the creatives and designers out there choose to be bold, invest their time, and try to do something that no one has ever done before, that’s when we see the ceiling raised.”
David F.I’m personally excited about how AI could reinvent existing art forms and media, allowing creators to build experiences that change as people interact with them. The creator sets the parameters—the objects, the storyline, the narrative flow—but the final experience is generated on the fly, sort of like in a video game.
Dylan F.And we have products around that idea, too. In Figma Design, we now have generative tools and shaders Prompting gets you started. Custom tools, real context, and skills take the design agent further—so what ends up on the canvas actually looks like you. Figma Weave brings AI generation and editing tools together into connected, reusable workflows, giving you a process your team can shape, refine, and repeat. Here’s what it unlocks for creative teams and how to get the most out of it.
Figma’s design agent, now with custom tools and greater context
The TL;DR on Figma Weave: Make your creative process repeatable
I think that if you’ve got the intention, if you actually care to do the work, you can always get a better result. When a new model drops there’s this hype moment that people are in for a few days. Everyone says, “This model is everything.” But you adapt fast, and a few days later the novelty is gone.
David F.A lot of negative commentary on AI is that it takes away human agency and human potential gets capped out. Can you talk a bit about your view on the potential of every human to be creative and be a designer? How might AI magnify every person’s ability to create?
Dylan F.As a human in general, you have a choice: Do you want to consume or create? Do you want to take the easy path or do you want to climb the mountain? And what I’m seeing happen right now is people letting AI think for them. That’s one path you can take. But the other path is to actually use AI to further your understanding of the world; to learn to do things you never would’ve dared to do before because they would’ve been too hard; to really expand the potential ways that you can live as a human. That, to me, is most interesting. Why would I want something else to think for me? My entire life has been about figuring out how to think.
David F.Everyone can be a maker.
Dylan F.Everyone can be a maker. Everyone can go do bold things. It’s about willpower and it’s about curiosity. And if you’re curious and you’re willing to do the work, I believe that you can go do incredible things. We’ll probably see a vastly different setup in the future where things that we can’t imagine are possible and things we take for granted are no longer in the realm of what humans do every day. How exactly that will look, I don’t think either of us can tell. We’re on the precipice of great change.
Right now, a lot of people are letting AI think for them…But the other path is to use AI to further your understanding of the world; to do things you never would’ve dared.“Right now, a lot of people are letting AI think for them…But the other path is to use AI to further your understanding of the world; to do things you never would’ve dared.”
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