Written by Brad Henderson
When a machine called the spinning jenny was invented and could spin roughly eight times the yarn that a human could in the same time, the people who spun yarn by hand smashed the machines in protest at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. These people were called the Luddites, and they were a group of textile workers who opposed mechanization. We still use the word "Luddite" to describe someone who is opposed to new technology or ways of working. That was around 1811.
When photography was invented, some people said that painters would have nothing more to do once photography was perfected. French painter Paul Delaroche said, “From today, painting is dead!” after seeing a daguerreotype around 1840.
There is a huge conversation happening right now surrounding the ethical use of AI, and many inflammatory opinions are being thrown around. Most of that controversy has centered around the use of human-created artwork to train AI models, and I do agree that training models on unauthorized artwork is entirely unethical. However, AI has been integrated into Photoshop for a while, and my guess is that Adobe won't be taking it out anytime soon.
History shows us that technological advancements do not eliminate human creativity. Instead, they reshape and redefine it. The real question isn't whether AI will change design — it undoubtedly will. The question is how we, as designers and creators, will adapt and leverage these new tools to enhance our work and push the boundaries of what's possible.