Photo by Domenico Loia on Unsplash
Right now, ChatGPT is the hottest thing out since man discovered fire. People like designers are wondering if ChatGPT is going to replace them in the future. Let’s talk about it.
AI versus humans
The argument that ChatGPT will replace designers is just a variant of AI will replace designers. If you go further the whole idea of AI replacing humans can be traced down to the fact that human beings have coexisted with technology long enough to think that technology does everything better than humans. Think about it. We rely on technology every day for everything. We treat Google like it’s God and ask it questions relating to our careers, hobbies, interests, relationships, and everything in between. Because we use technology for assistance with everything, we assume that technology is better than us, AI included.
The thing about that though is that we make AI what it is. Human beings have programmed AI to be able to give humans the answers that they’re looking for. Human beings are lazy. If people can find a way to not have to do something they don’t like and pass whatever they are doing to someone or something else, they will do it. People want to not have to do jobs they don’t like so they can spend more time doing jobs they want to do. AI can be the pathway to that.
The Designer Makes the Software
As a designer I think it’s important for us to be able to adapt to the times when it comes to what software. It’s not just the software that matters, but the designer who uses it. As designers, we don’t name ourselves based on the types of software we use. We don’t call ourselves Figma designers, Photoshop designers, Adobe XD designers, Illustrator designers, and whatnot. We call ourselves UX designers, UI designers, graphic designers, visual designers, product designers, service designers, etc. The reason for this is that the software that we as designers use may be one thing today but may go out of style in a few years. The content we design will stay the same though. That’s why I think we’d be doing ourselves a disservice if we ever got to a point where we relied solely on ChatGPT for designing things. It’s hot now, but we don’t know how it will be viewed 5 years from now. If anything, we can call it a great tool, but we have to be its master.
Software doesn’t always replace other software
Here’s another angle for you. Why hasn’t Canva replaced software like Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, and software like them? It’s because people have real need for people who are trained designers to give them quality work. Canva might get the job done quicker and faster, but it won’t necessarily be better than a designer who will put in the time and effort to make sure that what they produce is top tier work. Software like the programs that come from Adobe Creative Cloud allow designers to create things in a way that they couldn’t if they were just using Canva.
Personality equals design
You can sort of tell when someone designed something with ChatGPT versus when they had to do something from scratch. When a designer makes something, you can see their personality in whatever it is that they designed. With ChatGPT things look robotic. Personally, I see ChatGPT as a tool. The things that you make with ChatGPT should be looked at as a template. Take what ChatGPT gives you and see if there are things about what it gave you that can be changed.
I say all this to say that if you’re worried that software like ChatGPT is going to put you out of business, then relax, you’ll be fine.
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