Design, Teaching, and Staying Human in the Age of AI with Dan Saffer

Design, Teaching, and Staying Human in the Age of AI with Dan Saffer

Dan and Brad explore AI as a creative partner for drafting and ideation while requiring strong human direction, and compare today’s shift to the desktop-to-web and mobile transitions, including recurring backlash to new tech. They address risks: metacognitive laziness, erosion of expertise, stolen training data, environmental and geopolitical harms, and weak regulation, alongside benefits like empowering small nonprofits and accelerating creative and product work. Chapters: 00:00 Welcome 01:06 Claude Update Frustrations 04:50 AI as Writing Partner 07:23 Teaching During Shifts 11:29 Backlash and Nuance with AI 27:48 Design Process Upended 38:22 AI As Creative Accelerant 41:07 Andy Warhol Tech And Art 44:28 Music Gets Weird 54:30 Expertise In The Push a Button AI Era 01:02:34 Music Pick 01:05:03 Where To Follow Dan Saffer Links * World Party [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Party]  * The Waterboys [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waterboys] * Snarky Puppy [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snarky_Puppy] * Andy Warhol Museum [https://www.warhol.org/]  * AI in Design Pod [https://aiindesignpod.com/] * Claude [https://claude.ai/] * Claude Code [https://claude.ai/code] * Figma [https://www.figma.com/] * Suno [https://suno.com/] * Wix [https://www.wix.com/] * Adbusters [https://www.adbusters.org/] * Sturgeon's Law [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon%27s_law] — "90% of everything is crap" * Double Diamond design model [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Diamond_(design_process_model)]

More Queue, Less Feed with Sacha Judd

Sacha Judd discusses what excites her now: founding Lume Music, which aims to fix broken subscription-era music economics by launching a digital album format bundled with behind-the-scenes content in a beautiful app for dedicated music lovers. She argues the core problem online isn’t digital vs analog but feed vs queue—algorithmic, engagement-driven firehoses versus intentional, chosen experiences—and critiques venture-capital incentives, dark patterns, and how everything breaks at scale. With search and discovery degraded by AI slop, she advocates for human curation (newsletters, blogs, Reddit) and rebuilding “small shops” and healthy neighborhood-like communities, including optimism about AT Protocol apps. She’s writing a book on internet history through online fan communities, highlighting women and queer power users who pioneered governance, tagging, and moderation, and warns against conspiracy thinking and blunt teen social-media bans. Chapters: * (00:00) - Lume Music Vision * (02:12) - Albums as Artifacts * (04:17) - Feed Versus Queue * (07:48) - How Platforms Broke * (11:45) - Human Curation Returns * (14:08) - Finding Real Recommendations * (18:06) - Small Networks Not Mega * (22:35) - Everything Breaks at Scale * (25:56) - Small Shops Web Future * (32:58) - Lume Focused Audience * (35:08) - Fandom Conspiracies * (39:24) - Deepfakes and Literacy * (41:55) - Don't Turn It Off * (44:24) - Gen Z and Web Memory * (47:25) - Unsung Fan Builders * (49:56) - Fandom Journey Origins * (55:39) - Community Creativity Loop * (01:02:25) - Teens Need Safe Spaces * (01:04:38) - Wrap Up and Motto * (01:06:23) - Music Recommendation * (01:07:42) - Where to Find Sasha * (01:08:22) - Closing Thanks * (01:08:35) - Morning Excitement Check Links * Lume Music [https://www.lumemusic.com] * Spotify [https://www.spotify.com/] * Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/] * YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/] * Substack [https://www.substack.com/] * Reddit [https://www.reddit.com/] * Bluesky [https://bsky.app/] * Blacksky [https://blacksky.app/] * Mastodon [https://joinmastodon.org/] * LiveJournal [https://www.livejournal.com/] * Tumblr [https://www.tumblr.com/] * Archive of Our Own (AO3) [https://archiveofourown.org/] * Uber Eats [https://www.ubereats.com/] * Google [https://www.google.com/] * Google Maps [https://maps.google.com/] * Lovable [https://lovable.dev/] * Sachajudd.com [https://sachajudd.com/] * Shit You Should Care About [https://www.shityoushouldcareabout.com/] * Molly White's Blog [https://www.mollywhite.net/] * Rachel Andrew [https://rachelandrew.co.uk/] * Dark Forest Theory of the Internet [https://onezero.medium.com/the-dark-forest-theory-of-the-internet-7dc3e68a7cb1] * Bowling Alone [https://bowlingalone.com/] * The X-Files [https://www.fox.com/the-x-files] * Formula 1 [https://www.formula1.com/] * Marvel [https://www.marvel.com/] * Taylor Swift [https://www.taylorswift.com/] * Harry Styles [https://www.hstyles.co.uk/] * Beyoncé [https://www.beyonce.com/] * Waiata / Anthems [https://open.spotify.com/album/0Gk1SmhYrh61EhIE8BSKQz?si=tVddXisCRISHNdMInioIZQ&nd=1&dlsi=1bcf81e602dd4be8]

The Revenge of the Real with Amber Case

Amber Case reflects on where you live and how returning to a familiar place can help think clearer. Case discusses seeking authentic, small-scale community, work nights, recess-like breaks, welcoming rituals, and mutual support. She contrasts these with expensive, scalable “community” models and argues effective communities rely on kindness, simplicity, history, and durable governance patterns. She connects this to “revenge of the real,” emphasizing tactile cognition, constraints, long-term thinking, and calm technology principles. Topics discussed: * (00:00) - Morning Excitement Check * (00:42) - Hot Wheels New York * (01:46) - Secret Summer Chateau * (03:01) - Dopamine Defragging * (04:09) - Why Denver Feels Right * (07:37) - Growth And Change * (10:43) - Finding Real Community * (12:23) - The Company Work Nights * (15:44) - Against Scaled Clubs * (19:23) - Designing Durable Groups * (32:10) - Why People Dont Join * (40:31) - History Analog Wisdom * (46:00) - Unmoored Digital Life * (48:13) - AI Effort Paradox * (49:11) - Tactile Work Matters * (50:16) - Constraints Create Meaning * (51:17) - Handwriting And Cognition * (52:42) - Farm Fantasy Reality * (57:27) - Arts Therapy Embodiment * (59:33) - Multisensory Education * (01:00:57) - Long Term Craft Economy * (01:07:06) - Local Repair Culture * (01:10:37) - Universals Of Design * (01:12:42) - Collaboration Conference Idea * (01:14:33) - Against Main Character Metrics * (01:16:48) - Buzzwords Get Commodified * (01:19:24) - Calm Tech Certification * (01:22:55) - Human Breaks And Texture * (01:25:09) - Wrap Up And Music Pick * (01:28:00) - Final Thanks And Goodbye * (01:28:43) - Morning Excitement Check Links & Resources * The Place You Love Is Gone [https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393329285] * The Road to Science Fiction [https://www.goodreads.com/series/106839-the-road-to-science-fiction] * The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [https://www.cslewis.com/] * Chuck Palahniuk [https://chuckpalahniuk.net/] * Marshall McLuhan [https://www.marshallmcluhan.com/] * Cory Doctorow [https://craphound.com/] * Fight Club [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/] * Crystal Quartez [https://crystalquartez.bandcamp.com/]

Adaptability, Curiosity, & Creative Breadth with Brendan Dawes

Brendan Dawes is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer, and technologist. joins me to talk about creativity, curiosity, and what it actually means to thrive as a maker right now — when everything feels like it's being disrupted overnight. Brendan has been combining different inputs with creative outputs for his vast career, so I've been thinking about him a lot as we enter this new creative age. When I saw his name in the credits of the incredible Eno documentary, I screamed and reached out to him immediately. In our conversation, we get into Brendan's "event horizon" theory of creativity (staying at the edge of what you know and don't know), why judgment matters more than skill in a world of generative systems, and what Brian Eno figured out about technology that most designers are still catching up to. * (00:00) - Morning Excitement Check * (00:11) - What Drives You * (02:48) - Living On The Edge Of Your Knowledge * (06:12) - Adapting To Change * (10:42) - Tools And Modular Thinking * (19:12) - AI And Human Judgment * (22:44) - From One To Many * (29:15) - Humanities And Work * (35:27) - The Eno Documentary Story * (40:54) - The Collaboration-Community Magic of the Web * (43:28) - Say Yes To Opportunities * (44:30) - Craft + Time + Judgement + People * (45:40) - Designing Successful Collaborations * (48:55) - Creative Tension Stories * (52:36) - Creative continuity vs "Great Artists Steal" * (56:49) - Looking Backwards, Capturing, and Archiving For Future Inspiration * (59:24) - A Nonlinear Journey Into a Broad Creative Career * (01:04:49) - Leaving The Factory * (01:06:30) - Full-Self Creativity * (01:08:33) - Vinyl Recommendations * (01:12:22) - Where To Follow Brendan Follow Brendan: ◉ Website: https://brendandawes.com [https://brendandawes.com] ◉ Instagram: https://instagram.com/@brendandawes [https://instagram.com/@brendandawes] ◉ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/brendandawes.xyz [https://bsky.app/profile/brendandawes.xyz] Follow Brad: ◉ Website: https://bradfrost.com [https://bradfrost.com] ◉ Newsletter: https://bradfrost.com/newsletter [https://bradfrost.com/newsletter] ◉ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/bradfrost [https://linkedin.com/bradfrost] ◉ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bradfrost.com [https://bsky.app/profile/bradfrost.com]

Design, Creativity, Systems, and Potential in the Agentic Age with Jem Gold

As we put our course together, I want to have conversations with people who are thinking about things deeply, creatively, and responsibly. That's why it was an absolute pleasure to chat with my long-time internet friend, Jem Gold, technology as a creative medium, the soul of the early web, and the new era of AI-assisted making. 💥 Want to learn how to use AI & Design Systems together to make great digital products? Preorder our AI & Design Systems online course and join our vibrant community here: https://aianddesign.systems/ [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa0FnVG1HVU5WWjFpTlRRVFBWX2NCQUpWdnZyUXxBQ3Jtc0tudHVxMzUxWWFqTll3UWJJQW42em0wTmJDaG5BSU84eE5KX2p0cDh5NFkxdEpNVTdKcTJ1RjhxaVkzalRGM0ZiOVhuZl9GSXJnNC0tNG0tX2JtS25oaDdEWlZlV3lWUmt5M1BzU2QyY3F4V2ZXa0lKWQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Faianddesign.systems%2F&v=hApvw3YNVwQ] Topics Covered: ◉The counterculture lineage of the web and why reclaiming it matters now ◉ Technology as artistic expression — Jem's concept of the "technology artist" ◉ The flow state in music and how it translates to building with technology ◉ Should designers code? Why the answer is changing fast ◉ Skill-driven development and teaching LLMs how to design (not just what to build) ◉ One-shotting beautiful, branded interfaces with minimal input ◉ Jem shows off some wonderful one-shotted demos ◉ Generative UI as superposition: interfaces that adapt to the person observing them ◉ Design systems, Web Components, and building durable foundations for a non-deterministic future ◉ AI as a creative process tool — not replacing the music, but clearing the way for it ◉ ADHD as a superpower in the agentic era Links & Resources: ◉ Jem's newsletter: https://superposition.jem.computer [https://superposition.jem.computer/] - Support Jem and her work for $8/month; and use code JEMANDBRAD for an annual discount ◉ Jenny Wen's interview on Lenny's Podcast: • The design process is dead. Here's what's ... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh8bcBIAAFo] ◉ The Grid (Jem's AI design startup, ca. 2015) https://thegrid.io/ [https://thegrid.io/] ◉ Everything Just Gets Built: https://superposition.jem.computer/ev... [https://superposition.jem.computer/everything-just-gets-built/] ◉ I Don't Miss Code https://superposition.jem.computer/i-... [https://superposition.jem.computer/i-dont-miss-code-and-inventing-things-isnt-going-anywhere/] ◉ Real-Time UI https://bradfrost.com/blog/post/real-... [https://bradfrost.com/blog/post/real-time-ui/] ◉ "Ghostwriter" by RJD2 drum/synth cover • Ghostwriter by RJD2 -  [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIuaEXh0K9g] * (00:00) - Chapter 1