r/graphic_design • u/arnauddsj • 2d ago

Discussion Tired to read about AI nonsense

Sorry for the rant but I’m tired of all these messages from young people saying they quit freelancing or their graphic design studies because “AI can generate images.” So what?

You think a marketing or brand director is gonna fire their graphic designer and start creating visual campaigns themselves by prompting an AI? Then what, he sends his “ready to print” files (300dpi, with bleeds and all that shite) to the printer, who replies “Sorry, this isn’t even CMYK…”? Or probably the AI will generate the 100 banners in 10 formats the e-commerce team need for their affiliation campaign.

And now developers don’t even need to talk to UI designers anymore. They build faster with AI, so of course, they’ll just prompt the design themselves too.

Wait, never mind. Developers are gone too because AI took their jobs.

So I guess it’s just one CEO now, prompting all day.

Stop the nonsense. Maybe you're just looking for an excuse to give up or be lazy. And for those who are ready to get sh*t done, good for them, less competition.

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u/official_sp4rky 2d ago

Yeah, I don‘t understand it either. First of all, you don‘t own the copyrights of ai generated stuff. And AI won‘t give you a continuing coperate design. I think AI is good to give you a general Idead of how something can look, but if you want to have a tidy and unique design, you still need to hire a professional designer!

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u/DoubleScorpius 2d ago

How many clients outside of Fortune 500 companies care about copyright though? Not to mention coke, Schechers, etc. have ALREADY used A.I. in national advertising!

Not to mention, every time I see “AI can’t do blank” all I think is just wait six months…

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u/owlseeyaround 2d ago

Every single company needs to care about copyright, because people are litigious? You’re not a professional are you.

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u/Curious_Fail_3723 2d ago

Copyright is a thing. Or are you really ok with stealing other people's work? Come on, this should be common sense. I wouldn't work with a company that flouted copyright laws. Just as I would (and never have) worked with a company that pirates software. Be honest, be forthright.

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u/arnauddsj 2d ago

my point is that AI will not replace the person who might prompt the AI and handle the execution/project planing etc. Companies might hire less because designers work faster, but there is still need for designers and expertise

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u/mikelasvegas 2d ago

That’s the whole crisis. Hiring less designers IS AI taking jobs. Not sure why that concept is so difficult to understand.

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u/arnauddsj 2d ago

Yeah, AI is changing the game, no doubt. Some tasks are faster now, and companies might need fewer hands for basic production work. But that doesn’t mean no hands. It just means the role evolves. You still need someone to prompt the AI, direct the creative, prep files properly, make sure it all fits the brand and campaign strategy. That’s not going away.

Some might be starting businesses they couldn’t have started before. AI lowers the barrier to entry. I’ve seen non-devs launch products, solo designers could create CPG and run full-on campaigns etc. That leads to new revenue, more projects, also more demand for skilled people. So even if some jobs shrink, the overall market might grow.

This happened before. Spreadsheets didn’t kill finance jobs, they exploded the whole industry. Photoshop didn’t kill illustrators, it created digital art as a field. AI should be the same. It’s not replacing designers, it’s replacing the ones who don’t evolve.

You can complain AI is taking jobs, or you can use it to get more done, faster, better. I’m sticking with the second one.

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u/mikelasvegas 2d ago

It devalues the profession in terms of compensation not because of AI's capabilities and speed but the cultural and commercial perception of the craft. Design will soon forever be looked at as not much more than an intelligently crafted request to an AI, with an expected turnaround time of minutes instead of days or weeks.

Since March 2022, I've lead a studio focused on the practical applications of generative AI in my design field of architecture, interiors, and experiential design. I'm the first person to shift and openly embrace new processes and technology, but at the same time I am a pragmatic realist. AI is, and will continue to displace a ton of the design workforce by significantly reducing the number of paid positions available for present and future designers. Sure, start your own thing, but in terms of a current career path in design, it is forever changed. There are so many paid projects I have personally completed that would have previously required a team to execute, or at least a collaboration with certain specialists. In all of these cases I did the work myself. Sure, that enables me, but the consequence is that those other designers never had the chance to be paid for their decades of experience.

We'll see what happens. I agree it will create new types of jobs for those who are open to that, but the current education and expectations are not prepping people for that future. And, not everyone has the entrepreneurial mentality to pivot.

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u/arnauddsj 2d ago

on that point, this project you could handled that would have required a full team to work on. maybe your client wouldn't even try to get a team on it because too expensive. it opens your client possibilities, and opens work for you.

And yes it "displace" and "changes" a lot. but I don't see her "destroys" or "kill".

People need to adapt, all the time. I remember my parents in the early 2000' being lost looking at their kids future "what will they become" looking at internet and the futures jobs that yet we didn't know about. It's intimidating but no choice to adapt.

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u/mikelasvegas 2d ago

That is also my perspective. AI democratizes design and opens doors for work that otherwise may have been passed over. However, that doesn't change that it does shift the perception of value for any specialized task. Clients will now expect more for less, and the one thing that doesn't change no matter how good the tools get, is the biological limitations around strategy and analysis. So, what we are left with, or could be left with, is a race to the bottom in terms of duration and fee with ever-increasing expectations of creativity and productivity that, while possible, outpace our human ability to keep up. We need time to process, think, decompress, and step away. I'm afraid AI is making promises that are unsustainable, and that the only result will be to develop tools that take the human out of the equation to bypass these limitations.

Time will tell.

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u/owlseeyaround 2d ago

It can’t THINK. That’s a people thing

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/buginabrain 2d ago

Listen I'm against AI illustration but we live in a world of disney remakes, marvel after marvel movie, and multiple sequels on the same tired old franchises because studios and producers don't want to take the financial risk of a new IP.. I don't think originality in the real world matters as much as it does in terms of 'internet OC' or whatever. If the worlds largest employers of creatives don't care, that means you can count on way less opportunities in the future.