Last week, this tweet caught my attention:
claire vo 🖤@clairevo
The #1 question I’m being asked these days is “should I just fire the people who refuse to use AI?”
3:04 AM · Apr 11, 2026 · 50.3K Views
112 Replies · 5 Reposts · 270 Likes
I don’t feel strongly about the actual question (or answer) here - there are some interesting perspectives in the replies if you’re interested in that. Instead of cosplaying an armchair CEO and debating whether such a person should be fired, I started ruminating on why someone would vehemently refuse to use it in the first place. For someone deep in the tech bubble like me, this technology feels genuinely unreal. Why would you run away from it instead of towards it?
I’m sure there’s no shortage of possible answers here if you tap into the anti-AI discourse - the “fair use” debate in model training, questionable AI governance ethics, the potential displacement, the theoretical AGI uprising, and many more. All valid concerns, but for the average person none of these reasons are strong enough on their own to eschew the technology entirely. It’s the same dynamic that keeps most people eating meat, flying on planes, shopping on Temu, and voting for climate deniers while slowly microwaving our planet for the next generation - none of it feels personal or tangible in day-to-day life.
But after a decade in tech - both in startup land and Big Tech - I keep noticing one fault line that feels more tangible than the op-ed debates.
To most people (even in tech), a job is just a job. They clock in and out for a paycheck, not for the mission, camaraderie, or innate passion for the work at hand. To those people, being forced to use AI feels exploitative - they’re now expected to produce more for the same pay (or less over time, as they get replaced or automated away). It’s hard to blame them - the tech CEOs who are embracing AI themselves are not shy about using it as a cost-optimization measure vs. an enhancer of their existing workforce.
I think this does reveal a fascinating gap in AI adoption - those who feel it’s exploitative vs. those who feel it’s a supernatural multiplier for their work. How someone experiences AI in their job reveals a lot about why they’re doing that job in the first place. And the tech bubbles we spend time in - X, Threads, our jobs, and even this newsletter - skew sharply towards the multiplier view, even though the exploitative perception may be larger in absolute numbers.
For designers and product builders, empathy is the most fundamental fuel. If you’re optimistic about AI, this is the insight worth internalizing: the anti-AI sentiment isn’t just abstract ideology - it’s a deep apprehension about being resource optimized, not empowered. If we are to continue building technology as a force for good, it’s imperative to understand that many will encounter your product through a very different emotional lens than you.
1. Neuform
Meng To@MengTo
So this is a highly curated collection of 400+ DESIGN.md that’s editable and promptable. Just one click to change styles, turn into branding, mobile versions, slide decks and site sections like hero, testimonials & footers. It’s a superpower for creating landing pages &
3:15 PM · Apr 15, 2026 · 155K Views
57 Replies · 143 Reposts · 2.3K Likes
I will surely be digging into this resource. I particularly like this because it starts with existing design.md files that you can then iterate on, instead of starting with a blank canvas and trying to guess what prompt will accomplish what.
2. Wonder
Aaaaand we got another design canvas tool. This must be the one, right?
But in all seriousness, these tools are coming out faster than I can try them. You have to be unemployed to keep up... wait a second. Anyways, I’m planning to dive deeper and put some of these new tools through their paces in the coming weeks - I have a few landing pages to build. So far, I’ve been pretty skeptical about how incremental these tools are over Figma or just using Claude Code directly, but I’m keeping an open mind. Let me know if you have specific questions about these tools I could help answer as I try them out.
trash@trashh_dev
i see people on linkedin posting they’re getting AI certifications. what does that even mean?
9:49 PM · Apr 13, 2026 · 109K Views
319 Replies · 21 Reposts · 1.04K Likes
Please don’t get AI certifications on LinkedIn. Just build something and share it with the world. You’ll learn more, have more fun, and attract better potential employers and collaborators.
I finished Common Side Effects and it’s one of the best animated series I’ve ever watched. It’s beautiful in every way.
Acquired just put out a new episode on the business & strategy of Ferrari. This is probably the only podcast where I get hyped for each new episode. They’ve managed to create something pretty remarkable.
I want to ask you for a favor - if you’ve been enjoying the newsletter, please consider sharing it with your team / colleagues / friends. It really helps, especially in these early stages as I’m posting into the social media void and looking for like-minded people.
Thank you and see you next Tuesday.