“This is just another phase the creative industry will take in its stride”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question: 

“How do I keep investing in a career that feels at its core on rocky ground?

My design career is going well but I can’t shake the feeling AI is going to make it all crumble to the ground at some point.

I’m a senior designer that by most people’s standards is doing pretty decently. I work on interesting projects at a good studio. Despite this, I’m anxious that the very career I have put so much effort into, and love, is going to collapse completely – in large part because of AI. Part of me thinks I should have one foot in something else entirely but then I feel like I wouldn’t be giving my career its all. How best to approach this phase whilst we all sort of wait to see what happens?”

Katie Cadwell, co-founder of branding studio Lucky Dip and The NDA Podcast:

Since the dawn of the creative industry, there has been a threat to it.

Woodblock threatened by the printing press. Drawing threatened by the computer. Books threatened by websites. Culture threatened by WFH. In all these instances, the industry does what creatives do best – adapt. All these advances in technology weren’t good or bad, they just were something we needed to understand and integrate.

You might not like it, but AI is here to stay. Truthfully, it’s been around a lot longer than people realise. The die-hards are shouting pretty loudly right now, so it’s not surprising some creatives are feeling existential about what that means for their careers.

AI is only taking away some of our work (and luckily, not the good bits). You should be embracing anywhere it can save you time. All those hours spent photoshopping. Having to resize 20+ layouts by hand. These are example use cases you shouldn’t be worried about. Because that’s not where creativity adds the most value. 

You should take the saved time and dig into the part of your process AI is lightyears away from taking. Your ideas. Your strategic thinking. Your observational skills. Our ability to make unusual connections. You have a chance to fine-tune these skills while we ride out these rocky few years.

Because I do believe this is a phase. AI creative is the shiny new invention. The market is being flooded with work that looks identical, devoid of personality. 

But before we know it, it will become cool to be anti-AI. We’re seeing that happen already. It’s called ‘effort signalling’. Brands like Damson Madder, Victoria’s Secret, Chamberlain Coffee are all creating campaigns using time-intensive crafts, using real artists. And it’s paying off. Because the stats are damning. 72 per cent of Gen Z consumers have taken direct action against a brand after spotting AI-generated marketing. They’re boycotting them, voting with their feet.

Don’t forget, the arts and crafts movement was in response to the industrial revolution. This is just another phase the creative industry will take in its stride.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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