Design is power because it is interpretation. To design is to decide what is central and what is peripheral. That authority has largely belonged to humans. It may not for much longer. 

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This is not a rejection of progress. The world is moving fast. Artificial intelligence now designs interfaces, writes code, builds systems, and makes decisions in seconds. It consumes energy and water at scale to do so. And we call that efficiency. The same human mind that once questioned God during the Renaissance now asks algorithms what to write, what to choose, what to think. We fought wars. We built nations. Now we outsource judgement. Speed has increased. Authority is slipping. 

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And authority has slipped before. During the Renaissance, humans began to question divine power and reconsider their place in the hierarchy of the world. The idea that authority could be examined, even challenged, took hold. Art reflected that shift. In The Creation of Adam, Adam does not kneel or shrink. He meets God at eye level. The space between them is narrow.  Meaning is no longer untouchable. It is open to human interpretation. 

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If the Renaissance brought interpretation into human hands, the AI era is quietly taking it back. Algorithms decide what ranks first, what gets seen, what is suggested, what disappears. They influence decisions before humans realise a decision has been shaped. We call it progress. We rarely call it power. But when machines interpret the world for us, humans are no longer the final authority.

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If AI can interpret, generate, and build systems on its own, what keeps designers relevant? When algorithms decide the order, draft the layout, and shape the flow, humans step back. The structure is set before the designer begins. The designer edits what the system has already created. When machines interpret, they hold part of the power. 

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If Renaissance was a moment when humans claimed authority over meaning, then the AI era asks a harder question. What happens when interpretation is no longer only human? What is left for humans when systems make the decisions? Is this another shift in power, or the start of something else? The destabilisation has begun. Where it leads is still unclear.

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