The rise of the Demigod designer
God created the world with a word. If this is true, then recent developments in AI make me think that we will all become gods soon or at least demigods and that we have AI to thank (or blame) for.
I’m talking about language models like OpenAI’s GPT-3 that enabled Jordan Singer to build a Figma Plug in that creates websites just by describing their functionality. He asked for “An app that has a navigation bar with a camera icon, “Photos” title, and a message icon. A feed of photos with each photo having a user icon, a photo, a heart icon and a chat bubble icon”.
This was what the result looked like:
Or Sharif Shameem that built a “layout generator” that immediately exports the layout as code. All you have to do is to say what you want and the plug in will execute it.
Then there are some pretty impressive algorithms that were the secret agents behind the Russian design studio Art.Lebedev successful plot to create a fictional designer called Nikolay Ironov which was a pseudonym for a group of algorithms that created endless variations for logos and packaging that the studio’s clients paid for without knowing who was their creator. Their Turing test- like experiment continues blurring the boundaries of humans’ ability to distinguish between machine and human outputs. “This event marks the moment that the mass automation of creative processes becomes a reality for businesses.” declared Art.Lebedev studio when they unveiled its real identity.
On the other hand, companies like Mailchimp, the email marketing service, takes pride in its AI capabilities and just announced “Auto Designer”, a tool that will “automate branding” and is based on a combination of Machine learning (ML) capabilities and human experience.
Automagical video editing is also now from TypeStudio.com that transcribes your video, and then lets you edit it by changing the text. The editor can also cut out verbal blunders and string videos together, just be typing. So maybe text is our new design tool?
Still, people play a huge part in this new synthetic creativity — they create the brief, they supervise the process and the results that the algorithms come up with, they curate those results and set the AI on the paths they think are the right ones, and ultimately they choose which design will see the light of day.
Design is about the right thing to do
The craft of a designer goes beyond visuals or interaction models. It is first and foremost about social and ethical responsibility.
Creating experiences, services, products, and features that elevate other humans and avoid causing harm. Designers need to weigh and consider the scenarios and consequences of what they do, and use tools like Harms modeling and the Human-AI design guidelines to ensure the integrity of the outcome.
Machines don’t have context beyond what is offered to them by a human, therefore their decision making is based on a fragment of the human understanding. We can’t trust that task to be done by someone else without supervision at least as long as we want the world to support human needs and make them a priority.
In this process, who is the real creator?
Is it the mindless cluster of machine learning models that each responsible for one piece of the creation, but has no understanding of the overall goals or what its outputs are being used for, or the human that operates the machine and guides it but doesn’t create the actual components. What do we define as craft? Strategic thinking or manual work?
And does anyone care as long as the final result sells? What is the significance of authorship if eventually user needs are being met?
Creativity is not just generating ideas in large quantities, but it is the combination of intent (quality) and variation (Quantity) and that you need both to be able to create something that is both valuable and unique. (I wrote about it here).
The Demigod designer
Beyond the philosophical debate, this all connects to money and livelihood of course. Who gets paid and for what? Will only big studios be able to work because they have the money to invest in AI systems that spew relentless options? And what will these “big studios” look like? A strategist, a few salespeople and a data scientist?
Today’s designers have skills because they have spent endless nights figuring out ideas and transforming them to delightful outcomes through interactions and visuals. Through that work they learn to use their talent and master the craft: think strategically and learn how to translate business goals and human needs into designed solutions: features, interaction models, visuals, motion.
What will be the new growth path for designers if the legwork will no longer be required? how will they gain mastery?
The role of designers is changing, there is no doubt. It will become more about their ability to define what is the problem to solve, how should they solve it, to consider the broad implications on society, people, and the environment, and to learn how to control the machines with their words.
