I was curious how often today’s UX job openings mention AI. It reminded me of almost 10 years ago, when design systems became a buzzword and “design system” started showing up in job requirements in all kinds of shapes.

Now the new buzz is AI. I scraped UX job openings on LinkedIn and Indeed (thanks to this repo). Alongside AI mentions, I also looked at how many roles are entry-level.

Updated from 576 to 554 after removing postings where missing cells were unintentionally counted.

Here’s what I found:

Global

• ~11.19% mention explicit AI requirements

• ~15.88% target entry-level (up to 2 years)

• ~1.62% mention AI requirements on entry-level roles

US (New York, SF, Seattle)

• ~9.26% mention explicit AI requirements

• ~15.03% target entry-level (up to 2 years)

• ~0.62% mention AI requirements on entry-level roles

Notes

1. Job postings were taken within a 30-day window starting August 8, totaling 554 postings across 12 cities.

2. Data came from LinkedIn and Indeed, focusing on UI/UX and product design roles.

3. Entry-level included postings that accept 0–1 year of experience.

4. Other platforms are missing, such as Glassdoor, Google, and company career pages.

Recurring themes in the listings

• Curiosity/interest in AI: phrases like “curiosity about AI,” “openness to AI tools,” “deep curiosity,” and “enthusiasm for AI” appear 5–6 times.

• AI tools (explicit mentions): direct references to tools (ChatGPT, MidJourney, Galileo AI, Uizard, etc.) appear 10+ times. Variants like “AI-driven tools,” “AI-assisted design tools,” and “AI prototyping tools” show up consistently.

• AI-driven workflows / integration: mentions of integrating AI into workflows, “AI-driven workflows,” or “transforming processes with AI” appear 5–6 times.

• AI product specialization: knowledge of AI product domains (conversational UX, personalization features, data-heavy AI/insights products) appears 3–4 times.

Three ways AI shows up in job requirements

• AI literacy / awareness / curiosity: general understanding, openness, staying updated

• AI tools fluency: hands-on use of AI-assisted design/prototyping platforms, plugins, workflows

• AI product specialization: designing AI-powered features or products

Final Notes

I spoke with Roger Wong, who recently wrote about the design talent crisis and the vanishing bottom rung. He told me the evidence isn’t clear that AI is the reason entry-level roles are disappearing, but the bottom rung has been thinning for a while, and AI may be accelerating the squeeze.

He also suspects job postings don’t capture the full reality. In practice, there’s often a gap between recruiters and hiring managers, and recruiters may reuse older requirement templates. That makes AI in job requirements an imperfect signal. Even when it isn’t listed, the workflow is shifting, and the way designers work is already changing.