WELCOME
Being Designerly 122 has curated content at the intersection of Design x Human x AI to help you be more creative and designerly. This issue's focus is the designerly skill of critical thinking. Train your brain to spot nonsense faster than ChatGPT can generate it.
A new MIT study says ChatGPT might be making us dumber. Not because it's wrong - but because we're starting to trust it without checking. And when AI shows confidence, our critical thinking sometimes clocks out.
This week’s reads sharpen your B.S. radar. Because in a world of fast content and flashy claims, the ability to pause, question, and think critically is your superpower.
If you're in the US, happy 4th! I was on PTO this week re-imagining the future of Being Designerly... would love your thoughts - lycerejo (at) gmail.com
FEATURE
Critical Thinking Prompts
Ask Yourself: Before you trust that next AI output, design, or product statistic: What evidence supports this? What would prove it wrong?
Ask Others: In your next team review, try asking “Where might this be flawed?” and see what comes up.
Ask AI: When you get an output from an AI (except instructional or emotional content), prompt it:
Evaluate this idea: [IDEA HERE}. Your goal is not to agree, but to critically assess its strengths, weaknesses, underlying assumptions, and explain your conclusions clearly.
CURIOSITY
Impact of AI on Creatives: Your 2025 Data-Backed Survival Guide
For design agencies, graphic designers, and illustrators, this is a pivotal moment. The tools are changing, client expectations are shifting, and the very definition of a creative workflow is being rewritten. So, what does this new landscape actually look like? Here's what the data says
weandthecolor.com
CRITICAL THINKING
AI's great brain-rot experiment
You couldn't have missed the MIT study that finds ChatGPT makes people worse thinkers, but this article presents both sides of that. Even smart users accepted flawed AI output when it “sounded right.” Don’t let slick syntax override sound thinking. Thinking critically, see how the study was conducted and what the study authors cautioned
axios.com
Beyond the Hype: 18 Studies on AI in Education
A post by Dr Philippa Hardman that cuts through the AI-for-learning buzz. Lots of data, thoughtful takeaways. Use AI to improve efficiency, creativity, and learn how to communicate with AI
substack.com
EMPATHY
Why power skills – formerly known as ‘soft skills’ – are the key to business success
Nearly 7 in 10 U.S. employers plan to prioritize hiring candidates with “soft” or “power” skills, according to LinkedIn’s most recent Global Talent Trends report. Yet 65% of employers cite soft skills as the top gap among new graduates, according to Coursera’s 2025 Micro-Credentials Impact Report.
theconversation.com
VISUAL COMMUNICATION
TripAdvisor's new logo reveal just made me spit out my coffee
TripAdvisor recently unveiled a rebrand designed by Koto, following the typical formula of press releases, animations, and detailed case studies. However, they added a humorous twist in announcing the redesign of their owl logo.
creativebloq.com
Visualization: The Largest U.S. Companies by Revenue in 2025
Wonder what a visualization of layoffs in these companies would look like...
visualcapitalist.com
EXPERIMENT
Anthropic’s Claude AI became a terrible business owner in experiment that got 'weird'
Researchers at Anthropic and AI safety company Andon Labs put an instance of Claude AI in charge of an office vending machine, with a mission to make a profit. And, like an episode of “The Office,” hilarity ensued.
Great reminder: AI is not a systems thinker.
techcrunch.com
CREATIVITY
The rise of the creative generalist: why being 'good at lots of things' is becoming a superpower
Being good at lots of things is no longer a weakness - it’s a survival strategy. Especially in an AI-first world.
creativeboom.com
