This article examines the role of design education in a landscape increasingly shaped by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), analyzing how technological shifts reconfigure the competencies required in professional training. Drawing on an exploratory documentary study, based on a exploratory scientific literature, the study shows that although AI automates routine technical tasks, it does not replace the designer. Instead, it reshapes curricular priorities by reinforcing the importance of creative, criticalreflective, ethical, and contextual competencies. The results also indicate that conceptual and operational knowledge of GenAI, including the ability to develop effective prompts and critically evaluate algorithmic outputs, has become a key competency in contemporary design practice. A comparative analysis between Brazil and Norway reveals that structural inequalities significantly affect how and at what pace GenAI is integrated into design curricula, exposing asymmetries in infrastructure, faculty training, and access to digital resources.This comparison is based on the analysis of public policies, scientific articles, and documents produced by non-governmental institutions, which together provide the criteria and evidence supporting the international contrast. Overall, the findings highlight the need for educational programs to adopt guided, critical, and creative approaches to AI, ensuring that these technologies expand experimentation without compromising autonomy, authorship, or the fundamentally creative nature of design.The study contributes to the debate by highlighting a persistent gap in countries such as Brazil and others in the Global South: limited infrastructure slows universities’ ability to adopt guidelines and regulations related to AI, as well as to update their curricula.