3 ways I actually use AI as a product designer (these save real hours):
1/ Gap analysis in Figma
I ask the agent to scan my file and flag missing states - empty states, error flows, edge cases I didn't think of. On complex architectures this is genuinely impressive. It catches things I'd only find in QA.
2/ Generating screens from a design system
Once you have a solid DS, AI can draft new screens using your components, variables, font styles and overall styling. Not pixel-perfect, but fixing 20% of a screen beats starting from a blank canvas every time.
3/ Evolving the design system itself
With Figma MCP + agents, I can ask it to create new component states or organize existing ones, and since it reads your variables and styles, it mostly stays on-brand with little to no manual overrides.