Category: Design

By David Dunn | How to Leverage AI for Efficiency

Creativity and efficiency might sound like opposites, but in today’s design world, AI brings them together in amazing ways. If you’re a designer who still spends half your day tweaking layouts or finding stock images, this one’s for you.

By late August 2023, tools for automating creative work had exploded in popularity, and they’re only getting better.

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3 Ways AI Can Help You Automate without Losing Your Soul

1. Auto-Generating Content with Adobe Firefly

Adobe’s Firefly project uses generative AI to create design elements from text prompts: “Sunset background with watercolor texture” turns into usable assets instantly.

2. AI-Assisted Layouts in Canva and Figma

Canva’s “Magic Resize” feature and Figma’s layout plugins automatically adjust your designs across devices and formats. It’s like cloning yourself … but cheaper.

3. Task Automation with Zapier + ChatGPT

Create workflows where new client inquiries automatically generate project briefs or proposals using GPT-based plugins. Save hours without losing personalization.

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But What About the Human Touch?

Automation isn’t about removing the human; it’s about removing the boring. The hours you save are hours you can spend on brainstorming, storytelling, and branding—the magic stuff. Just like Fast Company reported earlier this year, automation is becoming a secret weapon for creative professionals. Those who embrace it early will leap ahead.

The age of image manipulation is not new. But what has changed—what demands our attention now—is how easily we can manufacture truth. Welcome to the era of deepfakes.

Deepfakes are videos or images created using AI that show people doing or saying things they never actually did. By August 2023, tools like DeepFaceLab and D-ID had made it possible to create realistic face swaps with nothing more than a laptop and a few photos.

In entertainment or parody, this might seem harmless, but in design—particularly when trust is part of the user experience—the stakes rise sharply.

Let’s say you’re building an ad campaign. You use AI to generate an image of a celebrity holding your product. It looks amazing, but it’s not real. Is that ethical? Legal? Could you even tell it’s fake a year from now?

According to a 2023 DeepMind report, over 60 percent of people cannot distinguish between a real and a synthetic image when shown side-by-side for less than five seconds. That’s a design problem. And an ethical one.

Three Ethical Guardrails for Deepfake-Aware Design

1. Transparency First
   If you used AI to generate faces or voices, disclose it. A small badge or text label builds trust—and may soon be required by law (EU AI Act).
2. Consent Matters
   Never use a person’s likeness, voice, or brand—real or synthetic—without permission. This includes composite or “lookalike” imagery.
3. Context Is Everything
   A parody video? Fine. A fake testimonial from a “customer?” Unacceptable. Design is persuasion and with that comes responsibility.

The question isn’t can we make deepfakes; it’s should we? And if we do, how do we keep design honest in a world where visuals lie?