Lately, I’ve been thinking about how much power we actually have as interaction designers, especially now with AI in the picture. We’re not just arranging screens or choosing icons anymore. We’re shaping what people see, when they see it, and sometimes even how they feel about it. That’s kind of a scary thought.
There was a moment when I saw how AI could be used to recommend content in super “smart” ways. The system learned fast. It felt cool at first. But then I caught myself wondering: “Is this really helping the user, or just making them stay longer without realizing it?”
That thought really stuck with me.
What makes AI tricky is how invisible it often is. Users don’t see the system changing behind the scenes. They just notice that it “knows them.” But do they really know what the system is doing with them? Probably not. And to be honest, sometimes I don’t either. The design starts to feel like a black box—even for us.
I think that’s where our ethical responsibility comes in. It’s not just about building efficient or beautiful things. It’s about honesty, clarity, and giving people control. Like, if an app is learning from a user’s behavior and making choices for them, that should be visible. That should be something they can understand—and maybe even change.
From my point of view, good interaction design should give people space to breathe, not just pull them deeper in. AI can be helpful, but only if we design it to support—not replace—the user’s sense of choice.