Listen to Designing with AI conference speaker Paul Ford talk about staying human in an AI world
May 21, 2026Looking forward to Designing with AI 2026?
So are we!
But don’t worry; you don’t have to wait until the conference to start tuning into the conversation. Lou Rosenfeld, founder of Rosenfeld Media, just hosted #DwAI2026 speaker Paul Ford on this week’s episode of the Rosenfeld Review podcast!
What does Paul Ford discuss on the Rosenfeld Review podcast?
“In a world where product is very easy to spin up, the relationship is getting more and more important.”
In this podcast episode, The Jagged Mind: Staying Human in an AI-Smooth World, Paul Ford sits down with Lou Rosenfeld to discuss how language shapes our ability to understand—and responsibly use—AI.
Paul’s background in programming and writing sets the foundation for his set of “rules” for working with artificial intelligence:
- Don’t let AI replace your thinking
- Be wary of AI’s tendency to flatter
- Build systems to help you verify and structure its output, rather than blindly trusting it
With these rules in mind, Paul argues that AI can be effectively used to accelerate prototyping and research.
In addition to this set of rules for preserving human judgment, creativity, and accountability while using AI, Paul and Lou also zoom out to dive into the broader cultural moment. In the midst of skepticism and hype, Paul argues that people are more discerning than we assume, and AI’s impact will play out in deeply human ways.
Discover more about what you’ll learn from this episode »
About Designing with AI speaker and podcast guest Paul Ford
Paul Ford is a multidisciplinary technology founder, writer, and product leader based in New York with 16+ years of experience building software-driven companies. He co-founded Aboard and Postlight, where he built a design-driven product studio and helped Postlight grow into a 100-person firm before its acquisition by NTT Data in 2022, then returned to focus on new product initiatives and climate-data storytelling.
As a prolific writer and editor, he has contributed to WIRED, Harper’s, NPR, The Morning News, and New York Magazine, blending technical rigor with cultural insight. His ventures range from solo projects like Ftrain.com to community experiments like tilde.club, reflecting an enduring passion for hands-on creation and open communities. With a BA in English Literature, Ford uniquely combines storytelling with engineering, turning complex ideas into practical, scalable products and narratives.
What will Paul present at the Designing with AI conference?
This June 9-10, 2026, the third annual Designing with AI conference will take place live online. Paul Ford will be kicking things off with his opening talk, New Work, New Words: A Glossary for AI.
In this talk, Paul proposes 30 totally new terms (plus a few he didn’t make up), ranging from the ridiculous to the terrifying, to help make sense our new AI inflection point. Because we can’t talk about things until we name them.
