AI ≠ Adobe Illustrator! — PART 1

When and if will artificial intelligence replace designers?

In recent years, artificial intelligence has taken over our minds. Wherever we look, we hear that our solution is based on AI. And this is regardless of whether we are talking about a washing machine, refrigerator, motion monitoring system, selection of an advertising convention, or a start-up wanting to redefine chatbot communication.

Among designers and programmers, there are discussions about the future impact of artificial intelligence, machine learning (ML), deep learning, VR, AR, and MR (virtual, augmented, and mixed realities). Everyone is aware that their work may change over time. Some of them even have doubts that they would have to start looking for a new profession. Is this scenario the most likely? Being replaced by technology? Hmmm… maybe there is such a chance. Let’s find out.

Reality VS expectations

If you design, you know how much creative effort is required to develop an effective, I emphasize effective, not just creative design. Often, it takes years to acquire the necessary skills to create clear and memorable communication. A communication where there is a synergistic correlation between content and image, where the message is unambiguous and unique. It is a difficult art. Yes, I did not make a mistake. I believe that effective design is an art. Maybe I will offend many people here, but I think that often it is harder than Fine Arts, because it does not have to meet any conditions and expectations. Art itself is a creative act, it can surprise, shock, act as a balm for the soul, it can be completely disobedient to trends, or ride the wave of popularity. Regardless of the chosen means of expression, art, to be art, should evoke emotions, because a work devoid of emotions does not anchor in our consciousness and remains indifferent to the audience.

It is different in the case of visual design. Here, emotions alone are not enough. The thing is, it’s all about the message. I’m getting to the point that the conditions for creating are much more demanding and, in addition, surrounded by a whole bunch of technicalities related to the specifics of mass media. Of course, it’s not that every visual design will be art, just as not every picture turns out to be a masterpiece. However, to succeed, on both of these fronts, we must be unequivocally characterized by innate sensitivity, empathy to the audience, and high-class workshop of operating the tools.

You are probably wondering why this reasoning and whether I am deviating too much from the topic. I’ll explain. Artificial intelligence is associated with humanoids, oddly speaking robots, or bodies with heads (see Sophia). However, the reality is quite different. In powerful summary, AI is based on learning algorithms (ML — Machine Learning) and it is thanks to them that we owe all the benefits from our intelligent vacuum cleaner scanning the entire apartment, learning its layout and vacuuming successively, place by place, so as not to miss any fragment. And it will find its way to hard-to-reach places, charge itself and come back to work, starting from where it left off. All good, but how does this relate to design? Well, that’s right. Generating abstract images imitating any direction in art is quite simple and does not require any advanced algorithms, it does not even require artificial intelligence. The matter becomes complicated, however, when an image must be generated that meets strictly defined assumptions, and when data such as logo, slogan, product photos, or image images are added to it, the bar is set very high.

After all, to be able to propose a design that correlates with the message, one must understand the sense and skillfully operate the form, analyzing thousands of different aspects such as font size and thickness, or its style, color, readability, the meaning of words, contextual thinking, understanding of the audience and a mass of compositional factors, not necessarily based on the golden ratio. These processes are constantly taking place in the mind of the designer and are carried out by him in real-time. It is a creative process, which during creation is subject to analysis, concluding, and making further design decisions. It is a process based on awareness, shaped by designers throughout their lives. They are influenced by all experiences, trends, expectations, and knowledge acquired over the years. It is also an emotional process aimed at the audience. And here we come to the key issue — emotions. Is artificial intelligence emotional? No. This has not yet been achieved and it will likely be a long time before it happens. So far, even quantum computers do not have enough computational power to approach this point.

Does this mean that there are no AI solutions for design? Not. And more. They are getting better and some of them are even brilliant!

In the past, that was the case.

Once, the graphic design required physical work. To compose a corporate paper, business cards, brochures, magazines, books, and posters, one had to bend over the desk and take physical work, of course, supported by mental work. The designer cut paper or folded metal fonts on the printing press. He could manually process 35mm film, developing images in the darkroom with chemicals. A tedious process, but the designer had more time to create more deeply thought-out compositions, as fixing a mistake was always a huge effort and often the final result was not as perfect as intended.

What happened in 1984 is now called the “DTP revolution”. Who was the main revolutionary? Of course, Apple. No wonder. The Apple Macintosh with design software (Aldus PageMaker) and its successors allowed designers to make changes with one click! There was even an “undo” option.

In this way, designers moved from the workshop to the computer screen. The tedious world of practical creativity was replaced by a more abstract digital world. The new possibilities gave creators more freedom. They could immediately see the results of their ideas. Meanwhile, the weight of each decision decreased, as it could be undone with one command. This opened the way to experimentation, and as we know, experimentation is the foundation of development. The world of designers became creative, dynamic, and wonderful!

That is how this wonderful world is now at the threshold of the next change. It seems that we have already achieved absolutely everything that is needed in the quality of software. In the computing power of computers and tablet-like graphical interface tools with pencils. Now and then some “improvement” appears, but the truth is that designers already have everything they need to carry out the design process — at least from the tool perspective. So what will be the next step? The answer is only one — Artificial Intelligence.

Thus, the next step is Artificial Intelligence.

We have established that AI is still far from a full process of visual design. Where to look for artificial intelligence? It does quite well in a generation. With this in mind, let me use this term about AI logos. Look at platforms like Looka or Tailor Brands. Of course, this is a selection of different elements based on customer data, preferences, and level of knowledge. This does not mean that a generated graphic mark will convince the audience. This is still generation, which involves combining ready-made elements that can be customized endlessly in later stages. It is usually the starting point for the final version.

Another area in design where AI is becoming increasingly effective and is starting to take on noticeable proportions is web design. There are already many available platforms for creating websites that automatically generate pages for users. These include tools such as Wix ADI, TheGrid, and Adobe Sensei. The exact number of websites built using these tools is quite difficult to determine, but each of them has at least half a million subscribers worldwide.

It must be acknowledged that this solution has its advantages.

• Never miss a deadline
• Never overload the client with additional costs
• Allows for unlimited online customization
• Offers the most unique solutions based on billions of combinations

It sounds good, but what about the actual quality of websites built using ADI? There are still several significant problems here, the biggest of which are:

• Random organization of content that humans often cannot understand
• Too many media requests
• The code is clumsy and illogical

So in the case of professional use, as with the logo, it is still better to go to a designer. Artificial intelligence, even though it is doing better and better, will not be able to match human skills in the field of design for a long time. I hope that minimally, I have put aside your concern, I will try to continue this treatment in the next part of the article! You will learn how you can use artificial intelligence in design. So see you!