Design Week asked us to share our views on whether AI is a threat or an ally to designers and the industry and Designer, Al Connelly, shared his view.
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Last week the Communications and Digital Committee met to discuss the future of AI in the creative industries so we have asked designers if they think AI is a friend or foe to the industry."
Designer Al Connolly's comment:
"In the same way the calculator, instant food or the synthesiser hasn’t kept musicians’, chefs or mathematicians up at night worrying about the future of their industry, designers shouldn’t be afraid of a little creative disruption from AI technology.
Design has already been affected by new technologies such as drag and drop templates or logo generators. But, just because it’s more convenient, faster and even cheaper, doesn’t make it better or mark the end of the creative.
AI can be used to generate some amazing looking images, but I think a better use is to use it as a sketch pad to fire out unrefined ideas to work with. We might see more of a disruption in stock imagery websites where it can take a long time to find the right image (that hasn’t been overused) and be extremely expensive. Image generators like DALLE-2 will give a completely one-of-a-kind tailored image at a fraction of the cost.
Designers need to look at where we are going. If we are heading into augmented reality or the meta verse, we need to think about design for that space. Just because AI is in its infancy right now, it doesn’t mean we should neglect thinking about its future application. Designers have the missing pieces that AI just doesn’t have. We have human experience and a distinct unique point of view that comes from personal history and real-world living."
