31 March 2024 | Issue #41

In this issue:

• Anti-AI protests ... kinda?
• SXSW: creatives and technologists clash
• Is it AI or not? Quiz
• Google: AI will replace agencies
• Canva acquires Affinity
• Secrets behind my process
• I helped write a book!

Did you hear about the protests at SXSW? There was a group of designers who were protesting AI taking their jobs. The right of expressing oneself is a cornerstone of democracy, and these designers were out in the streets making themselves heard at a major technology event.

Marketing expert Mark Schaefer was at SXSW and wrote about his experience watching the people rise up against the machines. He watched this crowd demonstrating against the consistent theme of the 9-day conference: AI.

This was interesting to me because it aligns with the basic theme of this newsletter: building awareness about AI's impact on design jobs.

But it turns out the protest was fake! It was an activation promotion by a company that sells AI software to designers. 🤯

One side of me is impressed with this. The other thinks it's in bad taste.

On the one hand, it is a great way to generate attention and raise the awareness that many designers feel threatened by AI because they understand that some companies are okay with "good enough" work if it's cheaper.

The thing that is in poor taste, to me, is exploiting people who genuinely fear their livelihoods going away. Are today's Photoshop experts modern-day buggy-whip salespeople? It feels disingenuous to say "AI is taking your design jobs! Buy our AI tool to save your design job."

But is it actually good if people don't learn about the product you're trying to sell? Mark didn't know that it was an activation stunt. Then again, he's not their target audience.

One of the biggest challenges with AI will be the inability for the average person to tell if something is true or not. Mark got to experience something that wasn't true and featured humans.

🪧 At SXSW, Creatives and Technologists Clashed Over AI

The SXSW festival became a battleground for creatives and technologists, with debates centering on AI's rapid development and its implications for creativity and society. This clash is particularly relevant to designers, who find themselves at the intersection of technological innovation and creative integrity.

• Creative Concerns: Highlights the tension between AI's potential and creative authenticity.
• Regulation and Trust: Points to the need for regulation and the challenge of trusting big tech with AI's future.

​Keep reading​

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🧪 Test Yourself: Which Faces Were Made by A.I.?

The New York Times has a new quiz that lets you run through a series of images and guess if they're real photos or AI-generated images.

I got 7 out of 10

​Keep reading (subscription required)

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☠️ Google’s Secret Meeting Warns of AI Threat to Ad Jobs

Google's discreet dinner with Australian ad agency execs highlighted AI's looming impact on advertising jobs, a crucial heads-up for designers who increasingly rely on digital platforms to showcase their work.

• Dominance and Disruption: Google's dominance in the ad tech space is leading to AI-driven automation that could displace high-skill jobs, underscoring the urgency for designers to evolve with AI advancements.
• Different this Time: This time, higher-income earners now find themselves at risk of displacement.

​Keep reading​

📊 Canva acquires Affinity to fill the Adobe-sized holes in its design suite

Canva's acquisition of the Affinity suite marks a bold move into professional design tools, offering designers a compelling alternative to Adobe's ecosystem. This could empower non-designer Canva users to expand their creative skills.

• End of Adobe?: After Adobe's failed acquisition of Figma, Canva looking to eat into Adobe's creative market lead.
• What are the Cool Kids Using?: I see a lot of designers promoting Affinity tools as better than Adobe's design software.

​Keep reading​

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How Did You Do That? New Process Segment!

For the image from last week's issue, I had no idea what I should create. Doomers and Boomers is kind of a weird concept. Do I use Dr. Doom and a septuagenarian battling it out? That wouldn't really make sense.

So, I prompted my friend Midjourney with "Doomer vs Boomer --ar 16:9." I wanted to see what Midjourney would suggest. When I don't know where I want to go, I use very general genAI prompts to do a little brainstorming. This prompt didn't help.

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So, let's focus on a different aspect. Let's think about the debate part. My next prompt was "two people having a heated debate --ar 16:9." This was a little better, but still not interesting enough. At least I have a direction I can work with.

For kicks, I wanted to see how Midjourney was handling text these days. It's still not there yet.

Next up, I started to get a little more specific. These systems do better when you're more specific. Usually. Sometimes if you have a lot of information about different subjects, it can get confused. My next prompt was "two people are having a heated discussion while sitting around a campfire. One looks optimistic. One looks pessimistic. --ar 16:9" There are some good options, but it's a little too dark for a newsletter header. Especially when the newsletter is about AI.

At this point, I'm starting to run low on time. Sometimes the right picture is generated on the first take. But for those images where I don't have a concept to start, it takes longer.

Thinking about the story, I tried to find a scenario where two people would be having a discussion about the pros and cons of AI. A couple of hipsters might have this debate in a brewery. "Two people are arguing. They both look like hipsters and they're at a brewery. One has a laptop in front of them. --ar 16:9." Overall, it's just too much. The "arguing" part is overdone. So is the hipster part.

I tried it again but made some minor tweaks. Now we're getting closer.

This one is still a little too much. I'll move the people from a brewery to a living room. I'm going to try a remix on the first image.

Nope, still too much of a brewery feel. The background is distracting from the subjects. Time to try a fresh prompt entry with the same prompt. This is where things went in an unexpected direction.

After so many attempts, I was surprised to see Midjourney jump to an illustrated style. I was purposely vague the first time because I wasn't sure if I wanted something illustrated or photo realistic. This isn't working for me. So I tried to change it up a little.

Now we're getting there! You can see the first image has some of that classic "genAI can't do hands" seeping in. But I like the second image.

I then took that enlarged image and dropped it into my Photoshop file with different versions of the AfterDesign border.

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If you look at the archive of this newsletter, I used the same style each week. I would include a specific prompt with all of my image requests. Over time, everything started to look the same and I believed it was hurting my readership. Now I start my prompt with very little information so I can see options of the direction I want to take.

I helped write a book!

I recently partnered with Joe Pulizzi (the guy who coined the term "Content Marketing") and 32 other marketers to write a book that outlines what a Content Entrepreneur needs to know to get started in their business.

I wrote the chapter on Branding!

If you're interested in an advanced reader copy in exchange for a testimonial, hit reply!

If you want to learn more about the book, check out TheContentEntrepreneur.com​

Next week

I dig into some new research that shows AI ISN'T causing a decline in design jobs. And Rand Fishkin throws down a challenge that AI's impact on jobs will be minimal.

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