As a designer, I often get asked, “Aren't you afraid that AI will replace you?” My answer is simple: NO. Artificial intelligence is not a substitute, but a tool that designers must master. It is a powerful tool, but not a generator of original ideas. It helps us refine concepts, optimize processes, but the authentic value of design remains in the hands of those who think strategically and create with intention.
The real danger: the “AI can do everything” mentality
The problem is not the technology itself, but how it changes customers' perception of the creative process. We live in an era where speed, automation and quick profit are prioritized at the expense of proven experience and creativity.
The danger is this mentality that has also given rise to “instant” design platforms such as Fiverr or automatic logo generation software. It's that mindset that doesn't see the difference between the results delivered by an experienced designer vs AI.
It takes vision to see the difference between two approaches:
Typical questions?
“Five weeks for a visual identity? Why so much and so expensive? I better do it myself with AI, I saw on Instagram how it's done.”
This thinking erodes the value of real design. Seeing a good project and saying “I can do that with AI too” is not innovation. Sure, AI can approximate, it can approximate - but without an original concept, the result is just a reinterpretation of what already exists.
AI doesn't create ideas, it just remixes them.
Artificial intelligence has no taste, experience, or discernment. Models are trained on human ideas, and what they offer are combinations, not original creations. AI does not know what works for a brand without a clear guide and without a strategic direction.
But even the designer is not an infinite “distributor” of new ideas on demand. Authentic design involves a process of searching — playing, documenting, exploring. There are no quick recipes for an impactful branding concept.
The real value of a process
If a client is on a tight budget and the designer sticks to his time, deadline pressure becomes inevitable. Less time means weaker ideas, lack of deep thought and mechanical executions instead of conceptual design.
On the other hand, larger budgets mean time for exploration, experimentation, and conceptualization. This should be the true cost of design: ideas and discernment, not just execution. Execution will be taken over by AI in the future anyway.
An authentic branding process includes research, exploration, strategic thinking, meetings, feedback cycles, supervised implementation. If a client does not afford all this, then he will receive exactly the level of thought for which he paid.
AI cannot replace a strategic vision
It is not the fault of customers that this mentality is taking hold. We live in an era of “efficiency” imposed by business. With all the talk about the power of AI, it's easy to think that a costly rebranding can be avoided with two subscriptions to “automated design” platforms and a little ChatGPT. But a strong brand is not created through a prompt, but through a clear vision, experience and strategy.
So in branding AI is a tool. But if it is not used with discernment, it becomes a trap. And the difference will always be made by the creative mind behind each project.