
“I think if you have a creative voice in writing or design, you put yourself out there and you take a risk — this is a good time to do that,” said the Figma chief executive Dylan Field.
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IBM Bob Announcer
Any AI developer tool can create a brand new project from scratch. That part's easy. The hard part is working with the code your business already runs on. IBM Bob is a new AI development partner that helps you do the hard job moving your technology into the AI age without losing the legacy code your business was built on. Let's create smarter business IBM. This episode of Hard Fork is brought to you by our Hard Fork Live 2026 sponsors Premier Sponsor IBM Associate sponsors EverPure, Pure Leaf and the University of Notre Dame and supporting sponsor Atlassian.
Hard Fork Host 1
Foreign.
Hard Fork Host 2
Welcome back Hard Fork listeners. This week we are bringing you more interviews from Hard Fork Live and a special musical performance. Today we are featuring an interview with Dylan Field, the CEO of Figma, as well as a musical performance by Dan Powell, one of the New York Times musicians and composers who works on the show and who was there in San Francisco at the live event at as our dj.
Hard Fork Host 3
Yeah, this is a really fun collection of segments. Fascinating conversations with figma's Dylan Field and a just legendary performance from Dan Powell, who is one of our favorite people. And one of the most fun things about working here is getting to hear Dan's cool music.
Hard Fork Host 2
We'll be back with more Hard Fork Live on Friday including a discussion with Daniel Kokatello and Sash Kapoor. A hang with Dwarkesh Patel and we'll take questions live from the crowd now.
Hard Fork Host 3
Have those been screened in advance?
Hard Fork Host 2
No. Okay, they're firing from the hip.
IBM Bob Announcer
Any AI developer tool can create a brand new project from scratch. That part's easy. The hard part is working with the code your business already runs on. IBM Bob is a new AI development partner that helps you do the hard job moving your technology into the AI age without losing the legacy code your business was built on. Let's create smarter business. IBM.
Dylan Field
I gave my brother a New York Times subscription.
Paul Tanorio
She sent me a year long subscription so I have access to all the games.
Dylan Field
We'll do Word o Mini Spelling Bee. It has given us a personal connection. We exchange articles and so having read
Hard Fork Host 3
the same article, we can discuss it
Dylan Field
this the coverage, the options.
Amy Lawrence
It's not just news.
Hard Fork Host 3
Such a diversified disc.
IBM Bob Announcer
I was really excited to give him a New York Times cooking subscription so that we could share recipes and we even just shared a recipe the other day.
Dylan Field
The New York Times contributes to our quality time together.
Paul Tanorio
You have all of that information at your fingertips.
IBM Bob Announcer
It enriches our relationship, broadening our horizons.
Paul Tanorio
It was such a cool and thoughtful gift.
Dylan Field
We're reading the same stuff, we're making the same food. We're on the same page.
Hard Fork Host 1
Connect even more with someone you care about. Learn more about giving a New York
Dylan Field
Times subscription as a gift@nytimes.com gift.
Hard Fork Host 2
Well, we have so much more to come tonight. I know it's hard to believe, but we are so excited for our next guest. Our next Guest is the CEO of Figma, an AI and web based design application founded in 2012.
Hard Fork Host 3
It's Dylan Field.
Hard Fork Host 2
Dylan, welcome.
Hard Fork Host 1
Hey,
Dylan Field
thanks guys.
Hard Fork Host 1
See you.
Hard Fork Host 3
Hey, Dylan.
Dylan Field
Hey.
Hard Fork Host 2
So, Dylan, I want to start by reading you a Facebook message I got on August 5, 2009.
Dylan Field
Hey, Kevin, I recently picked up your
Hard Fork Host 2
book at the library. Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it. Anyway, best of luck with your future endeavors. I'm going to Brown this fall. Who knows, maybe I'll meet you in Providence someday. That message was sent by a teenage boy named Dylan Field. And I want to just first of all, apologize. I never responded to that. So you can touch this.
Hard Fork Host 3
Can you imagine you write a book and a college student emails you out of the blue and you're like, yeah, whatever it was, you know, you had
Dylan Field
a lot going on.
Hard Fork Host 2
A lot going on in 2009. Anyway, I'm sorry for ghosting you. And second of all, it was a good book.
Dylan Field
You shall read it.
Hard Fork Host 2
How did your freshman year of college go?
Dylan Field
It was awesome. Yeah. And I got to meet you.
Hard Fork Host 2
Yeah.
Dylan Field
Because I don't know if you remember, but for the a capella group that you were in, you came back as a super senior to hang out with everyone, I guess.
Hard Fork Host 2
Yeah.
Dylan Field
Including the new freshman.
Hard Fork Host 2
Yeah. Well, it went so well that you dropped out and moved to Silicon Valley to seek your fortune here. And it's been quite a run for you. FIGMA went public last year, has had a wild ride.
Hard Fork Host 1
It's.
Hard Fork Host 2
And I want to talk to you first about AI because I have heard that you are quite AI pilled and I have seen on your social media accounts that you are constantly experimenting with AI doing all these AI side projects. What are you doing? And do you have AI psychosis?
Dylan Field
I think it's best to front run the psychosis rather than have it sneak up on you. You just got to dive right in and you get it over with. But yeah, I ask myself sometimes, and I don't think so right now, I think I've got a pretty reasonable take on what models are good at where they're not so great. But it's really interesting to see the new capabilities. Right now I'm vibe mathing.
Hard Fork Host 2
What's vibe mathing?
Dylan Field
Well, it's basically math, but with AI.
Hard Fork Host 2
Are you proving Fermat's last theorem? What are you doing?
Dylan Field
No, I'm not. But basically, I think it's just interesting to see how AI attacks these problems. It's kind of the opposite of Figma. Figma, we're a design platform. We often are evaluating the models, trying to see how good they are at design, what we should use, what we should put in our product, expose users, and it's like the opposite of verifiable. You and I can look at something and disagree or agree on the merits of it and the design merits of it, but there are some domains, like math, some aspects of computer science, where things are correct or they're not. And so I think it's really cool to see that range and the verifiable domains models are very good at.
Hard Fork Host 2
Now, Casey Vibe mathed his way through high school. They flunked him, but I'm glad it's going better for you.
Dylan Field
No, I don't have any results, so just be very clear.
Hard Fork Host 3
I want to hear a little bit more about what direction you are taking all of your AI use in as you sort of pursue these projects. This sounds like a lot of sort of personal stuff that you're doing for fun. Is that just sort of like the curious curiosity of a lifelong learner, or is there something specific that you're trying to find?
Dylan Field
I find that just in general, the more that you like exploring technology, you don't know how it's going to pay off or what benefit it will have, but ends up having some benefit in weird ways you can't expect. I was very excited about NFTs early on, and they became what they are now. They weren't called NFTs then. They're called crypto collectibles, because that was a cool phrase. But whether it's that or WebGL, which led to Figma, I just always try to explore stuff and go deep on it, figure out the new capabilities, because you can find ways to use them.
Hard Fork Host 2
I have a theory that I want to run past you, which is that every startup founder, CEO in Silicon Valley is obsessed with Vibe coding. They're all doing it on the weekends. They come in on Mondays and they say, why aren't we building this thing? 50 people used to build this thing. I just built it in a weekend. It's driving their employees crazy. But my theory about this is that this is reminding CEOs of what it was like when their jobs were fun. Do you agree with that statement?
Dylan Field
You said you're fearful of that?
Hard Fork Host 2
No, that's my theory.
Dylan Field
Oh, theory. Okay, sorry, I misheard you. I think that people like to make things and they like to design stuff and they like to actually put their ideas out in the world in a more tangible way. And I think we're just going to see more of it from everyone, not just CEOs, trying to have fun on the weekend.
Hard Fork Host 3
Speaking of making stuff, figma recently launched an ad campaign organized around the idea, sort of making fun of the idea that design is dead. It's sort of a more common sentiment, maybe in the era of AI make that case for us, that design is not dead. In a world where I can just sort of type what kind of app I want into a box.
Dylan Field
This is a real rollercoaster from my 2009 Facebook message. Now to design a product covering it all. It's taking a turn. No, I mean the look. I think that there's so many hot takes online. I'm sure you get a few of them an hour. Sure. And I think when new models drop, everyone's looking for something that they can say is dead. Because on social media now, it's like, either you're so back or it's so over. And I prefer to be back. But no, I mean, in terms of the case, I mean, look, like, it's interesting to see folks catch up to the capabilities and it's like, yeah, you do a lot. But the average sort of response from AI, whether it's a domain like writing. You know, my take, my hot take right now would be, I actually think that people that know how to write and actually engage in thinking, critical thinking around writing, and it's like, it's a good time for them.
Hard Fork Host 3
It's a good time for that.
Dylan Field
Yeah, well, you told me, but I think so.
Hard Fork Host 2
Yeah.
Dylan Field
It's like half the audience is applauding. They're like, I don't know, should we not. Is it too, like, are we sucking up?
Hard Fork Host 3
I think, like, you know, to the extent that writing is a showcase for your critical thinking abilities, like, yes. Like, having great critical thinking skills are always like a boon. Like, is the.
Dylan Field
But it's a style. It's a style of writing.
Hard Fork Host 2
Sure.
Dylan Field
Like, if you're funny, if you've got an actual, like, way you phrase things, if you have voice. And I think it's especially true right now in a way that wasn't a few years ago. Like three, five years ago. I would have said, oh, man, there's a lot of people on social media that are writing really interesting things. And we're in this world where there's substack and people are putting content there and it's really good. And now I look at that and I'm like, man, it's a lot of Claude. Maybe I'm over rotated even on identifying people that are basically using AI to write. Same thing's true for design. Folks are basically looking at these websites or applications and seeing the average, maybe they're even over identifying it. But I think if you have a creative voice writing or design, you put yourself out there and you take a risk, this is a good time to do that. It's something that's going to be rewarded.
Hard Fork Host 3
And I can imagine maybe in your view, there's a world where the fact that I can use an AI tool to quickly whip up a design might make me more interested in actually getting good. Right, and sort of like not settling for the first generation.
Dylan Field
Yeah, exactly. It's like, how do you not settle for the first draft, the first thing out there, the first output and actually mold it and craft it and push it further. And I think that the more you can do that, the more you'll send out and also the more you'll be differentiated. And I think that there's going to, I mean we saw the, the data recently on the number of apps in the app store, it went up a ton. But the number of apps actually being used and getting frequent traffic is still the same. And so you're basically in this hyper competitive environment now where you have to differentiate. You really have to lean in and figure out how to have a unique voice and a unique, take a unique point of view. Just like writing.
Hard Fork Host 2
The big buzzword in San Francisco right now is taste. Everyone's talking about taste as the sort of bulwark against being replaced by a if you have taste, you'll be fine.
Hard Fork Host 3
It's the first time taste has ever been a big subject in San Francisco.
Dylan Field
I think, yes, this is a city
Hard Fork Host 2
that made allbirds a thing proudly tasteless since 1821. And then I've heard some people argue that actually taste is just the word we give to the stuff that the models aren't very good at yet. Researchers in AI used to say, ah, but they don't have taste. And then the models got better and it was like, oh, wait a minute, maybe they can do all of the taste parts of the job too. So defend the concept of taste as being either important or a cope from people who just haven't used the good models yet.
Dylan Field
I mean, the cycle seems to be the model comes out, you think it can do everything. You discover the limits and then you realize that life goes on and will at some point that be different and affect the world in a different way. Perhaps we'll see. But so far it seems like everyone's adapting. And part of that adaptation is realizing the sort of new average that's being put out by the models. And I think it's not even. You don't even have to defend taste and people having taste because then we'd argue about do they to just recognize people can detect the average, they can detect that output and they can dare to do more. But I also do believe that this is a great time to be creative. And I think that the more the models put out, that's in distribution, because that's how the models are trained. They're trained on distribution of data. And if you're in distribution and you're not actually pushing the bounds, I think that you're in a worse shape than if you're actually going and exploring the frontier of human knowledge, creativity and what you can put on the world. And making something that's fundamentally new is an expression of yourself. So I get excited about that. I get excited about our opportunity to be the place where people can really unlock their creativity at figma. And we're one of the places that we many and just like creating tools that can empower people.
Hard Fork Host 3
I'm curious if you're seeing a reaction in the world of art and design to AI and what that looks like. Right? You think back and the invention of the camera gets us impressionism. Do we have an analog for that yet in the design world? Now that AI makes design easier to access.
Dylan Field
I think it's interesting how we're seeing some of that reaction maybe in the world of marketing and advertising. I don't know if maybe it's happening in the art world like I would have expected by now that people be really into sculpture in a way that they're not, or just things with textures. And that'd be my art thesis. So probably don't hire me as an art advisor, but I think that that's probably a natural reaction is like lean into the things that are not digital. Whereas I think in advertising now we're seeing ways to prove authenticity, to prove that you are actually making something that is not generated by AI. And some companies are really going for that. In the world of design. I think that what we're going to see and what we are starting to see a lot more interactivity, a lot more creativity. People really Making software more of a creative medium. I think back to the early days of the Internet and it was so fun. I feel like the last 15 years or so, basically the time we've been working on Figma, we have been in a bit of a rut, honestly. A lot of very monoculture takes when it comes to design, and the way it expresses the people that are trying to do the hot takes in the audience will be like, en Figma is to blame, hopefully.
Hard Fork Host 3
Shame on you.
Dylan Field
Yeah, exactly. Casey said it. But no, I think that the more we can do to make it so that people can push further and actually create really dynamic interfaces as well as marketing and media in general, the better.
Hard Fork Host 2
Have you seen anything that's been AI generated in the realm of design or art that you think is really good? Casey turned me on to Fruit Love island, which is now my.
Hard Fork Host 3
You've all watched it.
Hard Fork Host 2
My favorite TV show slash TikTok series. But is there anything that you've seen that is clearly AI generated, where you're like, oh, that's actually kind of fun and interesting, you know?
Dylan Field
Yes. And also it wears off fast. I think it's just like any style.
Hard Fork Host 2
I'm on season three of Fruit Love Island. So it hasn't worn off yet?
Dylan Field
Not yet.
Hard Fork Host 3
The pineapple had an affair.
Hard Fork Host 2
The papaya and the banana are about to hook up. It's great.
Dylan Field
Oh, wow. Sounds tantalizing. I'll have to watch later tonight.
Hard Fork Host 3
I want to come back to something that you were saying about writing earlier. It's just sort of been on my mind ever since you brought it up because you were bringing about the fact that we have substack Now a lot more people are writing, which I agree with you, is super cool. When Satya was here earlier, he brought up this post that he had read that was on Substack today. I happened to read the same post because it was on techmood. And I read it and I'm just gonna say it. It was Claude generated. Okay. And it irritated me as somebody who's always trying to get my stories on techmeme, because I'm like, I'm just reading, like, the output of a prompt. And so when I read that, my honest feeling is, like, this is not good for my profession. Like, my profession is starting to look more and more like slop. And so I just wonder, like, if there are designers in the audience, if they're having a similar feeling when they're looking at the designs that they're seeing everywhere and they're just knowing that it was outputted with the touch of a button.
Dylan Field
Well, I mean, one quality that writers and designers also share is imposter syndrome. And it's good to label it so that you know it's there and you don't have to deal with it every day or as much. But I, I think it's. Designers are arguably in one of the best roles in technology. And I, I mean, I'm talking to companies all the time. Customers, they're telling me that they're hiring designers. Sometimes they're not hiring others. But design is one of the most prioritized places in the company where they're hiring. Overall, folks are still hiring a lot. This also perplexes me. I mean, we're in a world where folks are saying that all the jobs are going to get replaced and they're then turning around and they're like, oh, let me call the really good engineers so I can get them to join my team. So it doesn't make sense to me right now in general, but I am very, very bullish on design and the role it'll play in accelerating companies further.
Hard Fork Host 3
So you think like two years from today there are more people whose job title is designer than art than they have it today?
Dylan Field
How many years?
Hard Fork Host 3
Say two?
Dylan Field
Yeah, I think so. I think probably significantly more. And a lot of people that are doing other jobs I think will start calling themselves designers, creatives. I think in general we're seeing more of this kind of generalist vibe that people are feeling like they have to embody. One thing that's been interesting is a lot of engineers kind of like you're saying, getting started on their design journey because they make something so vast and they're like, now what? And is it good enough? Maybe I should push it further. And then they kind of are trying to figure out, okay, how do I do that? So I'm pretty excited about that part too. Welcoming more people in as designers.
Hard Fork Host 3
I have a friend in the audience tonight who is a product manager who started out as a non technical person and is now able to create really amazing prototypes just with the advance of AI tools. I can see a world where design gets added into that portfolio as well. And I think that at the end of that, that job probably has a different name than pm.
Dylan Field
Not all of it will be great design, but the act of considering and being thoughtful what you're doing and then actually putting it out and taking risk. Man's design.
Hard Fork Host 2
Dylan, this is a lot of high minded conversation. Let's gossip.
Dylan Field
Okay. About what?
Hard Fork Host 2
Earlier this year, Mike Krieger former Board member at figma, product lead at Anthropic, co founder of Instagram, was suddenly. He suddenly resigned from your board. And just days later, Anthropic announced Claude Design, which feels a little Figma adjacent. So what the heck happened there?
Dylan Field
I mean, you just told a story, but I mean, let me be clear. Like, Mike is a great dude and, yeah, he's one I really care about.
Hard Fork Host 2
Would you let another AI lab executive onto your board in the future?
Dylan Field
Well, I mean, we saw how that went in terms of, like, you know, unexpected products rolling out and so probably depends on what their ambitions are.
Amy Lawrence
Yeah.
Hard Fork Host 2
In a general sense, you're not gossip. Forget these people are there. It's just us birds.
Dylan Field
Sorry, y'.
Hard Fork Host 1
All.
Hard Fork Host 2
Just us birds. In a general sense, I think a lot of CEOs are worried about the AI labs sort of integrating more vertically, like, you know, taking over insurance companies or accounting firms. We're starting to see some of that happen where these labs are just kind of expanding into all the adjacent industries and really creating tough times for the companies in those industries already. Do you expect that to continue? Are these labs just kind of going to continue to grow and grow and grow and just become these amorphous blobs that just create havoc for all the smaller startups in those fields?
Dylan Field
Let's tell a tale of two AI labs. You got OpenAI and Anthropic. And OpenAI went through that journey. They launched a lot of stuff, social network, even Sora, which I really enjoyed. I know you did, too, Casey.
Hard Fork Host 3
I had some fun. Yeah.
Dylan Field
Anyway, so speaking of AI generation, I did enjoy watching myself breakdance.
Hard Fork Host 3
And you'll see him do it again later tonight with the robot.
Dylan Field
But anyway, yeah, I mean, I think that then they've made the hard call of actually shutting that down and focusing the efforts of the company. And that's a hard call to make. But respect that they did it. And then also I think you've got. Anthropic is kind of in its arc of being more expansionary. They're thinking launching a lot of stuff, and I think you see what works and what doesn't. And then you see a year later what happens. I mean, I think the more interesting question is a year, two years out, where will they be playing still? And not everything works. It's hard to build product and get out in the world.
Hard Fork Host 2
What are some things that you think they will attempt and fail at?
Dylan Field
I don't know, safety. Joking.
Hard Fork Host 2
Very good.
Hard Fork Host 3
That might be the best answer of hard fork live 2026. Yeah, very good.
Dylan Field
Very good.
Hard Fork Host 3
Dylan, you run a public company. It's Enterprise SaaS. The market is very skeptical of that right now. Your job seems hard. How is it going for you? And do you think you convince the market that there is a bright future for you and your enterprise SaaS brethren?
Dylan Field
I don't have to. Elon Musk is doing it. You're this one, right? Yeah. I mean, was it 22.9 trillion on enterprise applications? Let's go.
Hard Fork Host 2
I'll pretend to know what you mean.
Dylan Field
No, I mean, like. But actually, I mean, how do you put that out there and not go, wow, in software is huge. I mean, he made it bigger than the entire space economy.
Hard Fork Host 1
Right?
Dylan Field
So, yeah.
Hard Fork Host 2
What do you make of. Okay, I'm told we only have a few minutes left, but I'm told that you have a desire to talk about hyperstition. What is hyperstition, and why are we supposed to know about it?
Dylan Field
I guess someone from our team told you that this is. I mean, getting back to the abstract conversation.
Hard Fork Host 3
Sorry, y'.
Paul Tanorio
All.
Dylan Field
But it's basically someone who's kind of like an Internet edgelord. Came up with this term. Don't look him up. But I do think there's a really interesting idea here, which is, how do you describe this phenomenon where ideas memes summon their own existence? And the two examples that I think are really good at this one is Bitcoin, and the other one's AI. Why did Bitcoin work? There's every reason to believe in the world that bitcoin would not work. And yet it just snowballed. And basically, the more attention it got, the more basically strong it became. And AI is the same way. There's all these folks that cared so much about safety, so much that they thought, okay, we got to do this in the right way. We got to form nonprofits and get together, and all of us got to be in one place so that we can really shepherd this technology into the future. And we've got to make sure we don't create a race dynamic. For example, we got to make sure that we have these complex corporate structures that we can make sure that this benefits humanity in the best ways possible. But then it's like, okay, well, there's a lot of really powerful stuff you can make with AI and people are people. It's hard to always get along. And, man, there's always an incentive to break apart. And, well, hello, race dynamic.
Hard Fork Host 3
Here we are. Can I try to repeat back what
Dylan Field
I've heard so far?
Hard Fork Host 2
And you tell me if I'm Right
Dylan Field
or not, I appreciate it better than me.
Hard Fork Host 2
Hyper. The way I have heard of it is in the sense of the AI is learning from what stories we tell about AI. So if you want AI to go well, you should feed it a bunch of stories about AI being really nice to humans.
Dylan Field
That's part of it too. I think that it's also the case that AI is painfully aware in some cases of all these tropes that are on the Internet about it. And it'll talk to you about the Google engineer that thought I was conscious. It'll talk with you about sort of the stories around science fiction and the ways that it's been depicted. It's very aware. It's all in the training set and there's not as much information for some reason. The training set data set of these stories where it goes well. But I actually do think there's an optimistic future for humanity. And I know that's a hot take now for some reason, but I want to believe that every day. And I think that it's on all of us to tell those stories too, of how it does go well.
Hard Fork Host 3
And so it might be a good time to write some stories about how things could go well. Just to make sure it gets into the training table.
Dylan Field
Exactly. You got it.
Hard Fork Host 3
You have your homework for this evening.
Hard Fork Host 2
Dylan Field, thank you so much.
Dylan Field
Thanks, guys. Thank you.
Hard Fork Host 3
Thanks so much, Dylan.
Dylan Field
Thank you. Have a good night. Thank you.
Hard Fork Host 3
All right, Hyperstition.
Hard Fork Host 2
When we come back, more from Hard Fork Live.
Hard Fork Host 1
Sa.
IBM Bob Announcer
Any AI developer tool can create a brand new project from scratch. That part's easy. The hard part is working with the code your business already runs on. IBM. Bob is a new AI development partner that helps you do the hard job moving your technology into the AI age without losing the legacy code your business was built on. Let's create smarter business. IBM.
Hard Fork Host 1
I'm opening up Crossplay. I've been playing against Dan, my colleague at the New York Times. I'm going to play stup S, T, U P E across the triple word multiplier square.
Dylan Field
Katz played another move.
Hard Fork Host 3
Ugh.
Dylan Field
And she did have an S. She played Stoop for 36 points.
Hard Fork Host 1
I've got a Z which is 10 points. If I can put my X over there, I can make box.
Dylan Field
I have two A's, N's and T's. I'm guessing tanga is not a word. Let's see, Tenga is a word.
Hard Fork Host 1
Oh, don't know what tenga means. So I'm going to press down on the word and oh, definition popped up. Former monetary unit of Tajikistan. Learn something. Every time I play this game, even
Dylan Field
though I'm about 50 points ahead, one thing I've learned in Crossplay is that the game is never over.
Hard Fork Host 1
I just got a notification and Dan played his last turn. Let's see who won. It's so close. But I did win.
Dylan Field
New York Times game subscribers get full access to Crossplay, our first two player word game.
Hard Fork Host 1
Subscribe now for a special offer on
Dylan Field
all of our games.
IBM Bob Announcer
Please welcome to the stage New York Times composer Dan Powell and his robot choir,
Hard Fork Host 1
Sam. Sa.
Hard Fork Host 3
Dan Powell. Dan Powell and the incredible Hard Fork Choir. You know, Dan, in addition to being our DJ tonight, also composed the Hard Fork theme song and so much of the other amazing music on the show. Thank you, Dan for coming out tonight. Rarely has a human losing a job to automation. Sounded so beautiful.
Dylan Field
Yeah.
Hard Fork Host 2
So those robots are made by teenage engineering and they are part of a choir that takes in input via MIDI and Bluetooth and outputs beautiful songs. And only occasionally do they need to be like wrapped on the head to. To behave.
Hard Fork Host 3
But I'm told that feels good for them.
Dylan Field
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hard Fork Host 2
They like it.
Hard Fork Host 3
Yeah.
IBM Bob Announcer
Any AI developer tool can create a brand new project from scratch. That part's easy. The hard part is working with the code your business already runs on. IBM Bob is a new AI development partner that helps you do the hard job moving your technology into the AI age without losing the legacy code your business was built on. Let's create smarter business IBM.
Paul Tanorio
I'm Paul Tanorio. I cover soccer for the Athletic.
Amy Lawrence
And I'm Amy Lawrence. I cover football for the Athletic.
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Hard Fork Host 3
Hot fork is produced by whitney jones and rachel cohn. We're edited by veren pavic. We're fact checked by kaitlin love. Today's show was engineered by alyssa moxley. Original music by felicia ba? Itupe, marian lozano, diane wong, rowan nimisto and dan powell, video production by sawyer roque, jake nichol and chris schott. Special thanks to the new york times live event team hilary coon, beth weinstein, kaitlyn roper, chantal rainier, melissa tripoli, natalie green, kirsten birmingham, marissa farina, jennifer feeney morgan singer, dana praskowski, hayley duffy, yen wei liu, matt kaiser, sarah cheever, johnny marola, victoria kim and sv productions. Thanks to everybody at the yerba buena center for the arts and the blue shield of california theater and a special thanks to paula schumann, huiwing tam and dahlia haddad. You can email us@hardforkytimes.com with all your photos from the event.
Hard Fork Host 1
Sam.
Podcast: Hard Fork
Date: June 17, 2026
Guest: Dylan Field (CEO, Figma)
Hosts: Kevin Roose & Casey Newton (The New York Times)
This episode, recorded live in San Francisco, features an insightful and lively conversation between Hard Fork hosts and Dylan Field, CEO of Figma, about creativity, identity, and "taste" in the AI era. The hosts and Field wrestle with how AI is reshaping the creative world—particularly design and writing—and what it means to stand out when machine-generated output saturates the landscape. The discussion touches on the future of artistic authenticity, the evolution of job roles, industry gossip, and the concept of "hyperstition." The episode concludes with a unique musical performance by Dan Powell and his robot choir.
"I think it's best to front run the psychosis rather than have it sneak up on you. You just gotta dive right in and you get it over with."
— Dylan Field (05:34)
"It's interesting to see how AI attacks these problems... there are some domains, like math, ... where things are correct or they're not. And so I think it’s really cool to see that range and the verifiable domains models are very good at."
— Dylan Field (06:06)
"The more that you like exploring technology, you don't know how it's going to pay off ... but ends up having some benefit in weird ways you can't expect."
— Dylan Field (07:14)
Hot Takes vs. Reality:
The conversation skewers social media’s penchant for extremes (“It’s so back” vs. “It’s so over”) and the claim that AI renders creative skills obsolete.
"When new models drop, everyone's looking for something that they can say is dead. Because on social media now, it's like, either you're so back or it's so over. And I prefer to be back."
— Dylan Field (08:54)
Human Voice & Critical Thinking:
Field argues creative voice and risk-taking are rewarded, now more than ever:
"If you have a creative voice in writing or design, you put yourself out there and you take a risk, this is a good time to do that. It's something that's going to be rewarded."
— Dylan Field (11:00)
Not Settling for the First Draft:
On using AI for creative work:
"How do you not settle for the first draft, the first thing out there, the first output? ... The more you'll be differentiated."
— Dylan Field (11:20)
The Rise of 'Taste' as Differentiator:
Hosts and guest riff on what "taste" means when AI can generate output in any style.
"Everyone's talking about taste as the bulwark against being replaced by AI: if you have taste, you’ll be fine."
— Host (12:01)
AI Output vs. True Creativity:
Field suggests distinguishing oneself with creativity and personal expression:
"The more the models put out, that's in distribution, ... if you're not actually pushing the bounds, I think that you're in worse shape than if you're going and exploring the frontier of human knowledge, creativity and what you can put on the world."
— Dylan Field (13:27)
Art, Authenticity & New Movements:
Field predicts a turn toward the non-digital and authentic, even as digital creation proliferates.
"In advertising now we're seeing ways to prove authenticity, to prove that you are actually making something that is not generated by AI."
— Dylan Field (14:35)
Monoculture & The Need to Push Further:
Field admits design has fallen into a rut and calls for greater innovation and interactivity:
"We've been in a bit of a rut, honestly. A lot of very monoculture takes when it comes to design ... the more we can do to make dynamic interfaces... the better."
— Dylan Field (15:24)
"Design is one of the most prioritized places in the company where they're hiring. Overall, folks are still hiring a lot."
— Dylan Field (17:46)
Krieger, Anthropic, and Boardroom Intrigue:
Field is prompted to discuss the sudden departure of Mike Krieger (Instagram co-founder, former Figma board member) and the quick appearance of Anthropic's "Claude Design," seen as a competitor to Figma.
"Would you let another AI lab executive onto your board?"
"Well, I mean, we saw how that went... so probably depends on what their ambitions are."
— Dylan Field (20:29)
Concerns over “All-consuming AI Labs”:
Hosts speculate about the trend of AI labs vertically integrating and devouring entire industries. Field points out labs’ mixed records and expects some expansionary ambitions to fail:
"It's hard to build product and get out in the world."
— Dylan Field (22:31)
What is Hyperstition?
Field introduces the term as: ideas or memes that manifest themselves by shaping reality.
"Ideas memes summon their own existence... The more attention it got, the more basically strong it became. And AI is the same way."
— Dylan Field (24:02–24:15)
Role of Narrative in AI’s Destiny:
Hosts and Field discuss how the stories we tell about AI shape the actual development and behavior of AI itself.
"AI is painfully aware in some cases of all these tropes that are on the Internet about it. ... The data set has less information for some reason about stories where it goes well. ... I actually do think there's an optimistic future for humanity."
— Dylan Field (25:43–26:17)
"It's on all of us to tell those stories too, of how it does go well."
— Dylan Field (26:27)
In this spirited live episode, Dylan Field maps the paradoxical landscape of creativity in the AI age, making a strong case that risk-taking, personal voice, and adaptability are more crucial than ever. While AI can generate massive output, the magic lies in pushing beyond the average, cultivating “taste,” and writing new stories—both for ourselves and, perhaps, the AIs that learn from us. The future, Field emphasizes, is there for the bold and the curious.