PSA: I’m saying goodbye to projects with AI
So Long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye“There are so many benefits to AI when it comes to efficiencies with systems and processes within a business, but letting it into the room during the creative process ain’t one of them.”
Public service announcement from yours truly: I’m saying goodbye to projects with AI!
The way AI has transformed the design landscape in the last year alone has been WILD to watch. From flyers and branding to mock-ups and even food imagery – it feels like generative AI is pretty hard to avoid as a consumer right now.
And, don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not anti-AI. I use it myself to help with the efficiency of my systems and processes within my business – there are so many benefits to it in this respect. But letting it into the room during the creative process ain’t one of them. In fact when it comes to designing, it usually creates a lot more problems than it solves (more on that over here).
As a business owner and designer, I’m constantly learning and evolving. But after getting myself into some tricky situations thanks to AI over the last few months, I’ve officially made the decision to bow out of projects that bring it to the table.
Why, you may ask? There’s a few reasons.
1. It gives you a false sense of reality
You can pop onto the web and generate a logo and brand identity in just a few minutes – and at first glance, you’re probably thinking "Wow, this looks great!".
But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see it ain't all it’s cracked up to be.
You can tell AI you want a brand that looks ‘premium’, ‘luxury’, or ‘editorial’, but without the necessary strategic context that comes from working with a designer (or just a human in general), you’ll often end up becoming attached to a particular look or idea for your project that doesn’t actually align with your audience, your positioning, or even what you originally asked for.
This makes it extremely tricky for me to do my thing to the best of my ability.
2. It doesn’t know what you don’t know
This is particularly pertinent when it comes to branding and web design, because there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than whether something simply looks good.
Ultimately, AI can only going to respond to what you ask it – but how do you know what you should be asking it for?
Because of this it often lacks the context, critical thinking skills and technical knowledge to be able to provide you the outcomes or feedback that are going to lead to success for your business in these areas.
Then there's the technical side of actually using what’s been created.
As a designer, I know what assets you’ll need, how they need to be produced, and in which formats for the desired application. Getting AI to generate something that looks like a logo is one thing. Having a properly constructed, editable vector logo that works across print, digital, signage, embroidery, and everything else you might need it for is another.
It’s all fun and games until you send some artwork to your logo printer and they tell you regrettably: “I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do with this”.
Without knowing what to ask for – or how to check what you’ve been given – you can easily end up with assets that are limited, incorrectly built, or need to be “fixed” by a designer (me) anyway.
3. It’s (dare I say it) false advertising
In the context of AI generated content - it’s flying a little too close to the sun when it comes to false advertising.
There’s a whole ethical and legal question currently being posed about the right of generative AI models to train and produce content based on copyrighted works. There’s also a pretty big movement being led by creators, artists and authors pushing for greater legislative protections against AI models and content in this respect, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some protections put in place in the near future that would make it particularly risky for businesses to use generative AI in the marketing and advertising of their business.
Regardless of this quandary, recent research from The Harris Poll shows that 78% of consumers say AI ads feel less authentic, and 63% are less likely to buy from brands that use it. Why would you want that?!
If we’re designing menus for your restaurant, I would genuinely rather use the worst photo of your actual food taken on your phone over a fake AI photo – and so would your customers.
You might think that they can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s AI, or that it doesn’t matter, but this is disingenuous to your audience and undermines their trust in your as a business.
There’s no scenario where the short-term gain of using generative AI content to market your business doesn’t turn into long-term pain for your future success.
4. It’s not you
At the end of the day, AI didn’t hire me to design for them - you did! And that’s who I want to work with.
When I send you a design concept, I want to know what YOU think. I want to hear your ideas, your feedback and your critiques, not Chatty-G’s.
Tell me you love it. Tell me you hate that font. Tell me something feels off but you can’t put your finger on why. Tell me you pictured something completely different. But don’t tell me what AI thinks.
I can't help you with that.
That’s why I’m no longer allowing AI into my creative process
It’s because of all of this, along with some tough lessons I’ve had to learn from this year, that I won’t be taking on projects where AI-generated logos, imagery, graphics, or other creative assets need to form part of the final outcome.*
I also won’t be accepting AI-generated work as the creative reference point for a project, and my client agreements ask that concepts I present aren’t uploaded to AI tools for feedback, alteration, or further development before handover.
I’m a human who wants to work with other humans, and focus my energy on creating things that only I can create. You’re hiring me for my ideas, expertise, and creative brain, and I’m working with you to understand your business, your audience, your ideas, and your feedback.
We don't need AI for that. Human-to-human is the only way the process is going to be truly worth your investment in me.
So if you’re keen to work with a human on your next project, you can book in a free consultation with me here.
*I would like to note this excludes architectural renders of commercial and residential projects that do not yet exist.
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The way AI has transformed the design landscape this year alone is WILD. And while there are many benefits to it, letting it into the room during the creative process ain’t one of them.