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Optimized into Irrelevance – When AI does the thinking for us

Digital Clones: Why Best Practices Are Killing Creativity #

I recently wrote about how online shops are losing their souls. Everything looks the same, everything feels the same. The diagnosis was clear: construction kits like Shopify or Wix dictate the structure, and we lose the actual "experience" in a sea of technical uniformity.

But if we are honest, there is a wave coming our way right now that won't solve this problem, but potentially exacerbate it exponentially: Artificial Intelligence.

The seductive help of AI #

Don't get me wrong, AI is a powerful tool. It helps us build layouts faster, predict conversion rates, and find designs that "work." Anyone using Figma or Midjourney today can get inspiration or generate entire components in seconds. This promises efficiency. It promises "better" designs because they are data-driven.

But this is exactly where the fallacy lies.

The average as the ideal #

When we use AI to make design decisions, what are those decisions based on? On data from the past. On what has already worked. The AI learns from existing inventory. If we ask it, "Create a design for a successful sneaker shop," it won't give us something radically new. It gives us the average of what statistically fails the least.

We are optimizing ourselves into absolute sameness.

The danger is real: The more we rely on tools to do the thinking for us, the more we switch off our own brains. Why should I rack my brains over a bold, new grid layout if the AI tells me that the standard 3-column layout converts better?

The Feedback Loop of Boredom #

We run the risk of viewing design merely as "painting by numbers," where the algorithm dictates the colors. If we stop allowing for human imperfection, emotional breaks, and "illogical" decisions, we lose exactly what makes brands stand out: Character.

The more we use tools instead of our brains, the more identical things will become. It’s a feedback loop: The AI learns from our uniform shops, proposes uniform designs to us, we build them, and the next AI learns from that again.

Where will this end?

The glimmer of hope: How AI can actually help us break free #

However, there is a path where AI doesn't make us boring, but rather empowers us to be more unique, if we have the courage to use it correctly.

Instead of asking AI for the "best solution" (which is just the most average one), we can use it to clear the path for real creativity.

  1. Automating the everyday: Let AI handle the tedious code, the resizing, and the technical implementation of Design Tokens. This frees up our human brains to focus entirely on the feeling and the story of a shop.
  2. The "Anti-Pattern" Generator: We can use AI to brainstorm ideas that break the norm. Ask it: "What is the opposite of a standard e-commerce layout?" AI can be a sparring partner that pushes us out of our comfort zone, rather than keeping us in it.

Conclusion #

Will we eventually be unable to distinguish whether there is a philosophy behind a brand or just a well-prompted algorithm? If everything is "best practice," nothing is special anymore.

Maybe we need to relearn how to be inefficient to remain relevant. We need to use AI to build the foundation, but we must never let it be the architect of the soul.