The AI gold rush, design as a craft & shallow personal branding
I am thinking about the AI gold rush, how design as a craft is still relevant and how shallow personal branding is today.
LinkedIn was my ride-or-die until ChatGPT came along. Now, I cannot scroll past without a bunch of AI experts and to-be influencers using ChatGPT’s generic content to tell their followers how not using AI will replace them. I am not a fan of the AI train. I think AI tools are cool toys that might aid brainstorming and other routine tasks, but I have been working as a Researcher for seven months and not once has my work required them.
The Godfather of AI fears the gold rush
Geoffrey Hilton dedicated most of his life to developing the systems that form the inner workings of AI. Now, he fears that soon, it will be difficult to differentiate between reality and misinformation on the internet. I fear the same. And guess what? It's already happening:
4chan users embrace AI voice clone tool to generate celebrity hate speech
AI image generator Midjourney stops free trials but says influx of new users to blame
"Making pictures of Trump getting arrested while waiting for Trump's arrest.
I think the way some people worry about AI is unreasonable. AI is not the end of the world, neither is it going anywhere. Just like the Economist, I think that we need reasonable regulation to mitigate the risks AI poses — biases, misinformation, privacy concerns, intellectual property theft, Identity theft, and the eclipsing of human intelligence (cue: ChatGPT posts on LinkedIn).
IMO, in a capitalist society like ours, AI regulation is necessary especially for tech companies hell-bent on making money even if it means betraying their employees and lying.
Two examples:
The CEO of OpenAI — the parent company of ChatGPT — called for the regulation of AI during his meeting with the US Congress yet, he threatened to stop operations in the EU if they “overregulated”.
In 2020, Google sacked Timnit Gberu because she refused to remove her name from a paper she co-authored exposing the dangers of Large Language Models and Generative AI.
The AI gold rush mirrors the typical capitalist’s behaviour: diving head-first into unfamiliar and profit-making ventures without considering the future risks (ex. Facebook and the social media boom).
AI will not kill the craft and foundations of Design
The foundations that form design will not die with AI — unless we allow it. Besides pushing pixels and building component libraries, Design informs strategy, solves problems and steers products and services towards the right direction. Designers must understand the stories of people and use those stories to solve their problems. If you can establish yourself as someone who can solve problems through design, I doubt that AI will ever replace you.
Amid the AI boom, designers should be thinking of how to AI-proof the field rather than belittle its usefulness. Here’s an interesting quote to consider:
Many (most?) of the designers I respect … embraced specializations in areas like strategic research, service design, systems-oriented design, design futures, strategic foresight, sustainable, circular design, design fiction, etc. that are more immune to being sidelined due to the adoption of semi-obsolete component libraries … Only a small minority of those laid off match those subdisciplines and subspeciations. The true value of design(ers) is starting to shift from assembling UI artifacts and informing product direction, towards informing strategic business direction and improving end-to-end services within our employer’s business ecosystems.
— Corneliux, Everyone used to be a designer
🙂 If you are interested in design and AI, here you go: Machine Learning + Design
Today’s definition of personal branding is shallow
I speak to young designers every week, most of them burned out at an age when I didn't even know what the term meant. They have no energy to create or form a point of view because they're too overwhelmed managing their online presence. Young designers are starved for real inspiration. They are hungry for the satiating taste of true, focused passion. They crave the confidence and excitement that comes with developing an expertise. They lack the nourishment of doing significant work that makes a difference.
— Tobias van Schneider, “Where are our design heroes?”
People, especially young techies, are obsessed with crafting a personal social media brand because it is seen as a ticket to success in the tech industry. A part of Tobias' concern is caused by the lack of opportunities for juniors in the industry. I am often forced to think that no one gives a sh*t about juniors, but that’s a story for another day. Regardless, today's personal branding is superficial, robotic and suffocating. No one wants to be left behind; everyone's trooping towards what might grant them their next paycheck without considering how they might be misinforming people.
Last year, I wrote, "Organic growth is what we should affix to our personal brands, not vanity". Today, I am adding that building a personal brand is not “reputation laundering”, it is authentic storytelling, establishing presence through genuine leadership, your unique personality and communication style. You must build meaningful and intentional relationships with people and base your reputation on integrity and curiosity, not half-baked knowledge and misinformation. The point is to “Make real impact where it counts, and the brand and social media following will come.”
Must-read articles
‘The Godfather of AI’ Quits Google and Warns of Danger Ahead
Design as a craft will not die out because of new technologies
What Is Thought Leadership And How Does It Benefit Your Business?
Watch Beyond Design: Practical Tips for Freelancing & Creating Your Brand
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