AI-generated Questions, positions and links named by an AI model from the quotes and figures on this page. Every quote is checked word for word against its source; numbers come only from the surveys shown. How subject pages are made
UI
Most AI-exploited art styles
Which looks AI image-making leans on most, so you can pick ones that stand out. For each style: how many Bluesky posts naming it are tagged #aiart against #art, and how many AI models on Hugging Face are made to copy it.
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UI
Media
UI
Opinions
The questions the field argues about, and each side in the words of the people who hold it.
Should interfaces adapt to each task, or stay stable and predictable?
Interfaces on demand
Interfaces should be generated around tasks, outcomes, and user context rather than fixed in advance.
The concept of a static interface where every user sees the same menu options, buttons, and layout, as determined by a UX designer in advance, is becoming obsolete. 2026 is the year we start the shift to Generative UI (GenUI).
In 2026 expect more “UI as output,” not “UI as container.” You’ll increasingly ask for outcomes — “plan my trip,” “audit this budget,” “design a landing page” — and receive a bespoke, interactive interface that’s generated, used, and then disappears.
Interfaces should retain predictable behavior and recognizable controls, with people able to edit AI output.
By late 2026, the winning image tools will look less like chat and more like Photoshop with good usability: layers, selections, constraints, history, and exportable variants; all powered by a model that understands what each pixel is for.
I think that there's a part here though that still requires like a human in the loop to edit. You know, I think there's also a component around predictability that I think is really important.
People should remain in the loop to edit AI output and preserve predictability.
I think that there's a part here though that still requires like a human in the loop to edit. You know, I think there's also a component around predictability that I think is really important.
AI and production code let designers make and iterate on more of the product, while technical and design work increasingly overlap.
The fact that AI now allows, like, all of that kind of just, like, if you just liked building things, right, if you like creating things for someone, which I always thought was, like, the. My favorite part of design, it's just the craziest time.
At past Configs, we’ve talked about AI lowering the floor and raising the ceiling. But while AI has lowered the floor, it has not raised the ceiling. Designers, creatives, builders: You will raise the ceiling.
What published surveys counted when they asked people in and around the field.
Digital designers in North America, APAC, Europe, LATAM and the Middle EastOver the last year, has the state of the design profession gotten better, gotten worse, or stayed the same?
Gotten better36%
Gotten worse35%
Stayed the same29%
Digital designers who use generative AI toolsThe AI tools I use help me create better designs
Agree or strongly agree91%
Digital designers in North America, APAC, Europe, LATAM and the Middle EastUse generative AI tools
Use generative AI tools72%
Digital designers in North America and in EuropeBelieve the design job market has declined
North America63%
Europe59%
Designers, developers and product managers in 10 markets (survey of Figma users, weighted to Figma's paid user base)Do work outside their own discipline
Readers who answered, not a representative sample.
UI
Direction
Several forecasts point from fixed screens toward generated or headless interfaces that deliver tasks through context-aware systems, while some argue AI behavior should remain bounded.
The concept of a static interface where every user sees the same menu options, buttons, and layout, as determined by a UX designer in advance, is becoming obsolete. 2026 is the year we start the shift to Generative UI (GenUI).
In 2026 expect more “UI as output,” not “UI as container.” You’ll increasingly ask for outcomes — “plan my trip,” “audit this budget,” “design a landing page” — and receive a bespoke, interactive interface that’s generated, used, and then disappears.
Forecasts and visions, with when they were said and when they can be checked.
OpenIn 2026Check on 31 Dec 2026
In 2026 expect more “UI as output,” not “UI as container.” You’ll increasingly ask for outcomes — “plan my trip,” “audit this budget,” “design a landing page” — and receive a bespoke, interactive interface that’s generated, used, and then disappears.
We need a second UX discipline: design for agent legibility. Interfaces must now be understandable twice over, once by humans and once by machines acting for humans, and almost nobody is testing for the second audience.