Generative artificial intelligence and creative labour (reshaping the role of the designer)

Abstract

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is a type of artificial intelligence that can create original content in the form of text, video, audio, images and code. GenAI produces human-like outputs quite dissimilar to traditional AI models, therefore the proliferation of this technology is fundamentally reshaping the role of the designers and creative workers alike. This technology acts like a companion in the designer’s creative process, accelerating their traditional workflow pattern into a detailed “prompt and evaluate” cycle, where human agency is focussed on curation, refinement and creative direction. GenAI is not replacing designers but amplifying their capabilities allowing them to explore more ideas whilst tedious tasks are automated. Nonetheless, there are also substantial ethical and legal concerns regarding bias, copyright of training data, uncanny valley, hallucinations and intellectual property regarding GenAI that need crucial attentiveness in this environment of rapid growth.