“Train to be a plumber,” replied Geoffrey Hinton, the “father” of Artificial Intelligence (AI), when asked what advice he would give young people about their professional direction and where they should focus their efforts. Geoffrey dedicated his entire life to developing artificial neural networks inspired by the human brain, and his algorithms laid the foundation of the AI we use today. According to him, plumbing remains a safe profession because AI still struggles in fields that require physical skills. While many mid-level jobs are disappearing, this profession will remain stable for a long time.

In the latest report from the World Economic Forum, more than 40% of employers plan to reduce their workforce by 2030 due to AI-driven automation. My profession, graphic design, ranks 11th among professions predicted to be replaced most quickly by AI.

After graduating from high school, studying graphic design was an easy choice because it was the only profession that truly appealed to me. I remember preparing myself for a world where excellent grades and hard work were valued and irreplaceable.

But today, in the field of graphic design, neither of these seems to matter anymore. A project that takes me two days can be generated by AI in just two minutes, and this makes me wonder where I will end up in the future. I am frightened by the thought that one day I might have to find something else.

But what worries me most?

Creativity versus AI?

The arguments I usually hear against my concerns are that AI is not truly creative and only produces what already exists; that people prefer to consume work created by human hands; that such changes have happened before, and with them, new opportunities will emerge.

Yet, I cannot agree with the comfort these arguments are meant to bring.

First, not all creative work is purely creative. There are tasks carried out by creative people that are more technical and do not require constant originality. These are exactly the kinds of jobs AI will replace first — tasks currently done by people. AI is already capable of creating simple logos, informational posts for social networks, or minor edits to photos and videos. But even work requiring more creativity and entirely new ideas, I believe, will eventually be replaced.

Today, a creative artist is mostly inspired by their predecessors. Not everyone is a revolutionary who changes history with their ideas. In the present we live in, most things have already been discovered, and what remains is the re-conceptualization of existing ideas. That is something AI can do with ease — and much faster — because it possesses vast knowledge about history, economics, politics and countless other fields, allowing it to combine and generate new ideas from them.

Secondly, yes, it may be true that people prefer to consume content created by humans. But only a small number of them actually wonder how a video or social media post is made when they see it. What they really care about is the messages they receive in these products. Moreover, many of the projects a graphic designer works on daily are routine and informative. A poster for a store discount or a reward campaign does not necessarily require “creative spirit.” Still, even informative content demands design techniques and visuals to convey the message effectively — whether through emotion or other persuasive methods. Yet these are routine projects, and the final result often does not differ much from what AI can produce.

Thirdly, it is true that similar technological shifts have occurred in history and humanity has adapted. But never before have they happened so quickly and across so many fields at once. What makes this even more concerning is that what we see today is not the final stage — it is only the beginning. In just four or five years, progress will go even further.

I will be personally affected by these changes.

This creates the need to learn new skills and stay ahead of the curve — irrespective of whether or not this will be enough. I have already used AI tools to help me complete tasks more easily and faster, for instance, in generating images. Yet, while I try to develop these skills to keep up with new technologies, the use of AI also worries me. It feels as if my problem-solving abilities are weakening, and I am developing the habit of turning to AI every time I need a solution. This makes me wonder if I am slowly taking the role of the machine, while AI is taking over the work I once used to do — not only in the execution of ideas but also in the thinking process that defines me as a designer.

AI will never completely replace humans in graphic design; certain positions, creative directors or lead designers, might remain. Still, their numbers will be drastically reduced, and only a few of us will survive in this field.

I fear we are reaching a point where a graphic designer will no longer need to learn new skills or challenge themselves creatively to produce something valuable, but will only need to learn how to write an effective request for AI, a “prompt.”

Feature Image: Dina Hajrullahu via ChatGPT

This blog was published with the financial support of the European Union as part of the project “Informed Democracy: Promoting a Diverse and Sustainable Media Ecosystem”. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Kosovo 2.0 and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

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