Tom Dixon: Designers Have Already Lost IP to Instagram, AI Is Not the Main Threat

At the Global Design Forum in Istanbul on May 14-15, 2026, British designer Tom Dixon argued that designers have already 'signed away all of our ideas' by posting images on social media platforms like Instagram, making AI's threat to intellectual property a secondary concern. Speaking on a panel at the London Design Festival-backed event, Dixon stated that it is 'virtually impossible' to protect designs and that building on others' ideas is inherent to the discipline. He warned against obsessing over protection over creation. Dixon emphasized that his real concern is AI in warfare and fraud, not design, calling AI a 'monumental opportunity' for designers. French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh, also on the panel, expressed doubt that AI can replace architects, citing the need for sensitivity to space and environment. She criticized AI-generated designs from tools like Midjourney as 'alien.' The talk took place in The Red Room, an installation by NUN Architecture and People Places Ideas within the Hagia Irene church at Topkapı Palace. The inaugural Istanbul edition of Global Design Forum was under the artistic direction of Melek Zeynep Bulut.