Artists and Designers - In The Age of AI
“‘Design and art are two completely different. Art is about making questions questions. Design is about making solutions. So in art, you make something that doesn’t make any sense which is ok. In design, you have to make sense.”
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As an Artist and Designer, I have observed that over the years, these two crafts, their processes, and their ecosystems have drifted further and further apart. But when it comes to AI, there may be more than we think that unites them. In design, some agree that AI has positively impacted processes and efficiency. In the art world, not so much, as AI has taken more than it has given to the community.
In this article, I will outline how AI has Affected the art and design industry and how artists and designers can pivot accordingly, push back, or rise above the emergence of AI.
No matter how we slice it, AI is here to stay. Am I happy about it? Aah, 50/50. On my creative journey as an artist and designer (specifically a product designer), I found that using AI has good and bad points. Within Art, the experience has been emotionally draining. My struggle lies in balancing the different ethical approaches between the two in my work.
There is a difference between your job and your work.
Dr. Miles Munroe defines the two as ‘A job is what you are paid to do, your work is what you were born to do.
Over the years, I have defined Product Design as my ‘Job’ and ‘Art’ as my work.
Art has always been my first love and what I was naturally gifted at. Combined with storytelling, I feel this would become my ‘purpose’ and what I was born to do and still do. Still, when I went to university, I couldn't reach as many people as I could now through social media and the internet (showing my age). Instead of studying art, I studied Graphic Communication and learned how to design. I’ve made a career in design for 15 years, starting as a graphic designer, to a digital designer, to a visual designer and now a Product designer. They pretty much mean the same thing, but I digress. I don't want to get into that debate today.
Today, my industry is consumed with AI and claims that ‘it’s the way that everything is going’. But I’m not so convinced. I believe AI has its rightful place in design, and now is its time because the industry has invested billions and is set to spend trillions over the next five years into it, according to Bloomberg. Change is a constant, and in all my years within the industry, one concept hasn’t completely dominated. They have had their time and lasting effects. But not complete domination. Why? Because human beings. Humans are complex, change our minds and habits and constantly experience new things, so when humans find something else they find fascinating, that too will make its rounds.
AI and its challenges in the industry
The main fear within both communities is ‘job replacement’. AI has advanced significantly over the past two years, affecting tens of thousands of jobs with a feeling that creatives will be replaced like printing press displaced scribes, and comments like ‘AI won’t replace humans, 8-year-olds using AI will’. I hear this, but I still have hope and feel that the AI trend has peeked slightly. Nonetheless, for those who feel somewhat overwhelmed and lack hope, I’m going to share with you some suggestions or things to do to rise above AI and compete in the art and design industry.
What to do and how.
So, where do we go from here? As a critical thinker and problem solver, I’ve pondered over potential and proven routes artists and product designers should take to reach the next level. Also, by interviewing for roles and doing freelance jobs in these turbulent times, I’ve gained insight into what clients and businesses have been looking for.
Product Designers focus on this.
Critical thinking
Until AI reaches AGI, which is in the near future (we are talking 2 years - see the breakdown of SITUATIONAL AWARENESS: The Decade Ahead) what sets you as a product designer apart from AI. What AI cannot do just yet is give you the right UX/UI solution for specific scenarios. Example: You can prompt an AI tool to develop a landing page for a Saas product. This product has two subscription models: free and £100/year. To view the two options to compare features, it had chosen to show them side by side, elongating the page with over 25 features. Why didn't it show the first five key features, and better yet, how did it guess you had 25 features? What if you just had two? So you see, critical thinking and coming up with a specific result the first time around, even though humans can’t spit out results within seconds, is way better than AI.
Observational Skills
Knowing how to identify a problem and navigate how to solve it takes experience. Knowing there is a problem in the first place is something your average designer won’t be able to identify and to be honest, neither will AI. AI can give you a standard result for a design with design best practices, but is it the right design for your specific coffee shop brand or your eCommerce store? It cannot.
Life Experience and Creativity
I put these two together because experiencing life, travelling, eating interesting food, trying new things, and having new experiences fuels creativity. For example, I love travelling and being in nature. It helps me think and clear my mind, so I take walks with my family in woodland areas near my home in the UK.
Soft Skills - Give yourself time.
Give yourself time to grow. If you have three years of experience as a designer, I’m sorry, but you are still a junior. It took me 5 years to move from a junior to midweight, and it had nothing to do with my design skills but my soft skills. Stakeholder management, documentation, and even sending proper emails for email trails. These are the only skills you can learn on the job. So if you are a junior, find a business, agency or studio and for those first three-year, work your butt off and learn everything you need to know, not just about design but design as a business.
Better Articulations / Through Storytelling
Being able to articulate your design solution clearly and concisely bodes well for you as a designer and a valuable employee. Especially when you can bring a client or business along the design journey, this skill allows you to build trust with clients and will enable you to stamp yourself as a subject matter expert in your field.
Artists, here are some suggestions of some routes for you to pivot.
If you are an artist and consistently seek to ‘Do the hard thing’ to improve, you will always be one step ahead of AI, and your mastery and authenticity will shine through. But here are a few things you could add to your work to land a job, clients, or even more followers to build an audience. Some of these may not apply to you if you are an illustrator or fine artist.
Create art or designs that work.
Feng Zhu is one of my favourite artists of all time. Has worked on many AAA games and blockbuster movies. Recently, I watched an episode of Design Cinema called ‘What AI cannot do’. He made an excellent point that AI could not solve complex real-world functional designs that work. It cannot match interior and exterior logic. AI only generates form. I.e. in entertainment design or concept art for games, a design of a space exterior and matching that with its interior design to scale. Plus, figuring out how doors and airlocks function and make sense is something that AI cannot do. So this is one area which I would say should be included in your art.
Storytelling, world creation
Drawing pretty pictures is fantastic, and that's okay if that's all you want to do, but I've always enjoyed art and artists who told stories behind their work. Adding a story takes your work to another level and invites viewer and audiences in to immerse themselve more into you artwork. Stories can come from anywhere, mostly from what inspired you to create that piece of artwork in the first place.
Exploration and experimentation.
Art is my release and fun time, where I let my imagination run wild with ideas I know I cannot execute at work as they don’t solve the problems there. What it does for me, though, is keep my mind fresh and open to new ideas and concepts through exploration of deifferent mediums and styles.
Curiosity, exploration and experimentation
Find your unique style (if you haven't already). If your work looks like everyone else's, especially like AI, then try something else. No one says your style cannot evolve. That is how we grow as artists. Also, many artists nowadays choose digital art as their medium. But now and again, give a real-life canvas a go or a different material, such as chalk. You never know what you may end up loving.
Join the right communities and protect your work.
Joining communities that support artists and helping them grow helps the cause to support all artists. Cara was created by Jingna Zhang, who won a lawsuit for art theft of her work, so she decided to make a platform where these practices couldn't be done, protecting artists. It's built with artists in mind, so none of the work gets fed to AI. It is also integrated with ‘Glaze’, an app that scrambles your image data so that AI cannot read it. By supporting now, you never know where it will be in a few years, and all artist work will be safe. Other platforms will have to change their stance on viewing art online.
Teaching your process
Teaching anything you learn makes you better at it. In this case, a better artist. You retain over 90% of the knowledge/techniques you know when you teach it. Also, by teaching, you inspire others and teach the next generation the value of art as a craft. Each One, Teach One.
Conclusion
The sad truth of this world is that ‘no one is coming to save you’. So it is you who must change, improve, pivot, etc. Yes, we are a community, and we all band together, but all hands must be on deck for change or protection of our craft.
So, with AI, let's not pretend it's not here, or we can ignore it. If you are a product designer, use it to your advantage. If you want to get started, see my other post, Demystified AI Lingo: LLM vs LMM , for help with terminologies and Ideas.
My Artist Journey
If you are an Artist, ‘Know thy enemy’, haha. Or at least know what AI can do so it doesn’t take advantage of your work. Check out Cara and see how you can protect your work with Glaze.
Bruce Lee once replied to his master when asked What is the highest technique you hope to achieve?’ and he replies ‘To have no technique’ he then goes on to say a few lines later, when asked to elaborate on his thoughts when facing an opponent, he says ‘When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself.’
Design industry
This is a philosophy I’ve used throughout my career regarding the industry. All industries have always undergone changes; as we all know, change is a constant. AI is just one of those changes. When the industry expands, I contract; when it contracts, I expand. When there is an opportunity, I aim to acquire the skills necessary to hit the mark ‘all by itself’. ‘Be like water’, my fellow designers: constantly move, adapt, change, and evolve so that whatever the industry throws at you, your abilities ‘hit’ all by themselves.
And with that, as always, Peace, Love and Blessings.