A business owner recently asked me: “So, what do you think about AI?” I have people ask me this question many times. They always ask it with a tone that suggests they’re quite worried, a little skeptical, and super-interested in what my opinion on this subject is. Working in website and SEO, and the graphic design business, people assume I may have some insight info, or maybe they know me well enough by now that they know I’ll tell them honestly what I think.
My response was
“Do you remember waaaayyyy back when you had a huge file cabinet for all your client files, a typewriter, and a Rolodex of business cards? Then, you moved all your files and contacts to your computer, and instead of typing letters, you learned how to use a computer. Think of AI the same way: it’s a new tool you need to learn so it can make your life easier.”
“Aaaah! That makes sense. But how about your business? Is it going to affect your business?”
I replied: “ Well, let me tell you a story. When I started the business (a web design business for those who don’t know me) back in 2010, a friend told me, ‘Andrea, I don’t think it’s a good idea. There are do-it-yourself websites out there now, so nobody will need a web designer. People can do their own website.’ (He meant it in a good way.) Well, here I am, 16 years later, still building websites.”
AI offers web designers, developers, and graphic designers amazing tools that allow us to create amazing designs for our clients. It saves us time when planning and writing code, doing SEO research, and designing graphics.
“But aren’t you worried that it will replace you? It can design whole websites.”
Yes, AI can design whole websites. I have seen AI-generated websites. One of my friends had AI create a website for her business, and she asked me to review it. The website looked good, the structure was good, the images, colours, and fonts were all very nice and typical for her type of business. And that’s the problem – it was “TYPICAL” for her industry. See, AI will create based on what is already out there and your input, of course. But it will not come up with unique, creative ideas, or really, anything new (in the creative industry).
Another issue with my friend’s website was the content. Based on the website, I assumed she was a meditation guru, a speaker, and offered full online courses. She did none of that – she simply wanted a website where people could sign up for meditation classes at her studio.
You may say that my friend didn’t instruct the AI properly. That’s true, she clearly did not. And that shows another issue: To get the right results, you need to know how to instruct AI.
She also asked the AI to design a logo for her business. The logo was not unique; it was very predictable. Why? Because AI scraped all the logos in her industry and created a design out of the elements that it saw in other logos. (There’s a LOT of bad logos out there!)
My opinion is
AI is a set of tools, better than any tools before, that will help us improve our work and save us a ton of time. And it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in – I’m sure there are AI tools in your line of work that can make your life easier. It will replace the manual, mundane tasks, but it will not replace human judgment (AI didn’t realize the website it produced for my friend was not what she needed). There will always be a need for a person to make the final decision and ask the questions:
Is this logo unique? Does it really represent our brand?
Does this website truly explain what we do? Does it appeal to our audience? Is it written in a human voice? Does it guide visitors where we need them to go? Does it have the functionality we need?
Look at it this way: How many new systems have you learned throughout your career? Consider AI another software that will make your life easier.