I have recently seen an influx of businesses using AI for fliers, graphics, and even logos. This is growing more and more concerning as a graphic designer and, frankly, as a human. There are so many reasons why I highly recommend staying away from artificial intelligence whenever possible, especially for graphic design.
I will state this as clearly as possible: I know not all businesses can afford a graphic designer for all graphics they need.
BUT… if you cannot afford a graphic designer (there are some inexpensive ones out there) what else can you not afford? What else are you cutting corners on? There are graphic designers looking for work to help feed their families AND there are free options like Canva that are at least a little better and more ethical.
Let’s dive into this a little bit more….
Businesses: Why You Need a Graphic Designer
There are a couple different reasons including ethics and biases, copyrights and trademarks, scalability, long-term cost (to your business and the planet), plus just being able to stand out!
Ethical and Copyright
First and foremost, is creating something with generative AI ethical? This is a new tool we are still learning, but so is AI… it is learning from what others are creating. It is stealing what others are creating. You may write a unique prompt, but you cannot claim to have created the graphic since it relies heavily on the work of others. Also, since it does use the work of others, you will not be able to copyright a logo or graphic created with generative AI.
When it comes to intellectual property law, human involvement remains crucial. Copyright law mandates human creativity, while patent law requires substantial human input for inventorship. (Stadler IP Law)
Another question of ethics is the use of water. Is your graphic and the need to save money so important you will waste water? According to scientists at the University of California, Riverside, each 100-word AI prompt is estimated to use roughly one bottle of water (or 519 milliliters). This may not sound like much, but billions of AI users worldwide enter prompts into systems like ChatGPT every minute.
Sloppy Design
As a business owner you may not understand the principles of good design and what AI creates seems great, but honestly, AI doesn’t understand the principles of good design either. A smart graphic designer will work WITH you to make sure the important information is highlighted and design principles (like hierarchy and white space) are followed for viewers to comprehend what you are sharing with them.
Just dropping all the information into an AI prompt will not produce results because it takes everything you give and doesn’t have the human touch on what is too much information for a viewer. It also doesn’t know your brand… your brand is MORE than your logo and colors! It may use the fonts or colors you tell it to, but it will not know your organization’s story, mission, history, and audience like a human designer will. Also, it could have typos and incorrect information.
Plus all these AI designs look similar. You won’t stand out and your brand is going to get lost.
“You’re going to lose the uniqueness of your brand, your identity, whatever it is you’re trying to sell or market. It’s going to start to look like everything else.”
Josh Gammon
Printers + Files
Once you create a graphic through AI you need to be able to use it… right? Of course! Well, I hate to break it to you, but you are going to be limited on how you can use the graphics you are generating.
Vectors + Transparent Backgrounds
What is a vector file? It is an image made of math formulas, points, and lines instead of colored pixels…. Which means it can be scaled infinitely. All logos should be in a vector format! AI will not provide you with a vector file, so you will be limited on how you use things like your logo. You may be a small business now and just need a logo for your social media presence, but hopefully you grow! Hopefully you need a logo for a large sign when you open your brick and mortar shop.
Maybe you are thinking, well I’ll just get my logo with a transparent background and then have a designer creating a vector. Unfortunately AI has trouble even doing transparent backgrounds. And most designers will not touch AI work. Why? Too much time cleaning up poorly designed files and fake transparent backgrounds, plus copyright infringement. Also, I’ve heard about printers refusing to print AI work for similar reasons… and often you don’t have the right file type or color profile needed.
Getting Flagged
People are already getting sick of seeing AI ‘slop’ so social media is now flagging graphics created with AI (even AI features in Canva!) Also, there is a movement for people not to support businesses that use AI. Once you’ve shown you use AI people are less likely to trust you and use your services or purchase your products.
“All the design just looks homogeneous. It doesn’t look unique. It all blends together visually. There is clearly a good chunk of people who are just not interested in interacting with a business that is too heavy on the AI… It makes you wonder, are you offloading other things in your business as well?”
Matthew Dean
Customers: Why You Should Think Twice
There are already movements growing to ban AI or not use organizations that use AI. As a customer the choice will be up to you to support businesses that cut corners, waste water, and steal work from other designers and artists. These businesses are not supporting small businesses like independent graphic designers, like me!
How to Spot AI Graphics
Not sure if you know what was created using AI? As a graphic designer I can spot graphics pretty easily, AI graphics have a ‘look’ to them… but here are a few things to take note of when looking at graphics:
- Strange Shapes and Weird Details – Too many fingers, warped shapes, background changes behind something.
- Distorted Text and Mismatch Fonts – A good graphic designer will stick to brand colors and fonts. Brands shouldn’t have too many fonts. Many designs have too many fonts competing.
- Inconsistent Brand and Style – You should be able to identify things that all come from one organization. There will be a consistency in which font is used for headlines and body text, color choices, and layout. Also, some AI generated graphics will have different styles within one design — think flat text vs cartoony. Looks like AI’s identity… not yours!
- Too Much Information / Small Text – Talk about information overload! Designers know what can be removed and how to make even a lot of information legible.
- No White Space – Design needs white space to give eyes a break!
This is a great article from Medium to help identify AI generated photographs.
AI is here to stay, but it is up to us to use it responsibly. If graphics are too quick to make, think about the long term cost and consequences: missing out on working with a creative (who may be trying to feed their family), wasting massive amounts of water, giving away your data, can’t use long term (copyrights, stolen work, vector), etc.
Have I used AI? Yes, it is everywhere! But, changing your mind when presented with new information is a sign of intelligence. I primarily used AI for helping me with more written format things (not that that is any better), but once I learned of the water usage and remembered, what, a year ago, I was not reliant on these machines thinking for me… I definitely do my best to avoid it and turn it off (it is integrated everywhere)!
We are falling more and more into this trap of not thinking for ourselves or even thinking critically about anything. In my opinion, thinking critically was already becoming a major issue and now it is in short supply!