I was incredibly honored when a student from Rocky Mountain Deaf School in Colorado reached out to interview me for her class assignment. Let’s refer to this talented individual as “K”; she aspires to become a graphic and web designer. We communicated via email followed by videophone.
During our face-to-face conversation, “K” asked for my thoughts on AI. I initially thought she was referring to Adobe Illustrator, a widely-used graphic editing software. However, she was actually asking about Artificial Intelligence, which has gained significant popularity recently. Oops! After sharing my opinion on it with her, I thought I would share and expand on it with you here as well.
We talked through VP (videophone)!
For those who may be unfamiliar, AI art generators are applications that create images based on text descriptions. For example, you type “A photograph of a cat chasing a mouse” and it will produce a realistic image according to the description.
I expressed to “K” that we should view AI generators as tools and inspirations rather than relying too heavily on them, similar to how we use graphic editors like Adobe Photoshop or Affinity Designer to create our visions. Many artists fear losing their jobs due to AI; however, I feel that this concern is premature. From what I’ve seen so far, AI-generated art— while truly amazing in most cases— isn’t always perfect. There’s also a controversy around it— about AIs using human artists’ works without their permissions. Also, some clients who are purists may feel offended if an artist or a designer they hired used AI. (I may expand on this further in a future post.)
The interview went quite well, and I could tell that “K” and her sister (also a student at the same school) are both bright and ambitious young women. “K” asked if she could rely on me for guidance and advise. “Of course! Please do,” I replied. We’ve remained in touch since then. If you have any questions for me, such as about AI, how I work, or just about anything else, please feel free to contact me.