Will AI Replace Graphic Designers?

Whether or not AI will replace graphic designers is an open question. Employers have quite a bit of economic incentive to use AI where possible, just as with past waves of industrialization, mechanization, and automation. Simply put, AI has significant efficiency and productivity implications. Whatever happens in the future, AI isn’t going anywhere, and it can be helpful to graphic designers. That could be great news for you as you begin your graphic design career journey. 

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Job security concerns

Experts project AI will add $15.7 trillion to the global GDP by 2030 [1]. Due to advancements in AI technology and its global adoption, if you’re interested in breaking into graphic design, you may want to learn more than the graphic design basics. The graphic designers of the immediate future will likely need to be conversant in generative AI technologies as well. 

AI capabilities in design

Generative AI’s use cases in the graphic design realm proliferate. You can use AI to generate visual content such as: 

• Infographics

• Logos 

• Ads

• Visual art

AI can produce these things in far less time than it takes a human graphic designer to do the same. AI can also automate repetitive tasks such as image editing, layout creation, and template generation, speeding up your graphic design process from ideation to completion.

Limitations of AI in graphic design

Any AI model is limited by the quality of the data programmers train it on. Inaccurate, biased, or noisy data will result in commensurately poor output no matter how skillfully you prompt it, so it is important to ensure the data is clean before you submit it to the tool.

While AI is helpful for designers, it can’t think in a meaningful sense; it isn’t capable of problem-solving, critical thinking, or sophisticated audience expectation evaluation. Only human beings possess those capabilities. 

Creativity and originality

Is AI truly “creative,” and is what it “creates” in any sense “original?” That depends on who you ask. 

Can AI replicate creativity?

AI can’t replicate true human creativity in terms of either method or result. Generative AI can produce convincing, even attractive images—some realistic, some fantastic, depending on what you ask for—but it lacks access to the essential human capacity for discernment and taste that you, a human being, possess innately. You can develop these skills as you pursue your graphic design career. 

Even if AI-generated images aren’t in themselves exactly what you want, as you explore graphic design you will learn how to harmonize images with a company’s overall intent and brand voice. 

The role of human vision

The overall role of taste, discernment, and the intelligent and case-specific application of AI-generated images are the qualities most likely to keep you employed as a graphic designer even as AI adoption spikes. 

These are skills in a real sense, not matters of arbitrary opinion: If anyone can generate sophisticated images in seconds—and with AI, they can—it’s the presence or absence of this human touch, the profound sophistication developed through years of study and practice, that makes the difference between an AI prompter and a true graphic designer. 

Collaboration between AI and designers

You may find that traditional graphic design techniques and newer AI technology work synergistically to your benefit. 

AI as a supportive tool

AI can perform certain tasks that you might require a great deal of time to do. Such tasks include: 

• Applying styles to text

• Removing objects from, or adding them to, a piece

• Generating new images almost instantly

Most graphic designers have adopted AI, saying it’s helped them optimize efficiency and allowed them to finish a product much more quickly. This is important: Demand for visual graphics is at an all-time high, and freelance graphic designers especially can increase take-home pay via extraordinary productivity.

Benefits of a hybrid approach

AI-generated visual creativity can inspire you when you get stuck. It may also lead to a preference for a new sort of hybrid machine-human visual art, just as photography gradually gained popularity over landscape painting. 

Evolving skill sets

You will need to attain and then refine traditional graphic design skills while acquiring new ones suited to today’s AI-assisted graphic design landscape. 

Essential skills for graphic designers

In addition to traditional graphic design software, a variety of graphic design-oriented AI tools exist, such as: 

• Figma

• Adobe Firefly

• Marq

• Framer

• InVision

• Canva

• Autodraw

It’s a good idea to be conversant with at least some of the above to thrive as a graphic designer. 

Because AI adoption has lowered the barrier to entry in graphic design, you will need to be familiar with AI tools and refine your understanding of what an audience wants, how best to communicate ideas, and what is in good taste and what isn’t—all concepts that are beyond even the most advanced machine learning models. 

Importance of continuous learning

AI is capable of the automation of design tasks. But you must prompt an AI interface for it to do anything. This means as a graphic designer with some discernment you’re the catalyst for everything AI does in your field.

Some designers are embracing AI at a foundational level. They’re helping design better AI user interfaces, training AI models, and working to define the parameters companies put in place regarding the ethical use of AI in graphic design. This may be a worthwhile subfield of study after you’ve begun your graphic design journey. 

AI interface design requires advanced skills in user experience, user interface design, and other fields. However, many skills you can attain as a graphic designer already successfully transfer wholesale to AI design, such as:

• Human-centric interaction design

• Systems design

• The ability to communicate ideas about visual content

In short, you may already be more ready for a future in graphic design than you might think. 

Industry trends

Different industries have different outlooks on AI in graphic design. 

Current trends in AI adoption

According to a McKinsey report [2], as of 2024, more than 65 percent of businesses used AI, up nearly double from the previous year. These businesses use AI for multiple business functions, not just text generation. 

Graphic design isn’t the most common AI use case. The five most common AI use cases are in: 

1. Customer service

2. Cybersecurity

3. Digital personal assistance

4. Customer management

5. Inventory management

With AI adoption on the rise, graphic designers may soon be on such a list. Regardless, graphic design will remain key to how various industries and sectors communicate, both internally and externally.

Future outlook for graphic design

Experts project the AI industry to grow 13-fold by 2030 [3]. Demand for AI in graphic design specifically rose 1700 percent from 2022 to 2023 [4] and is likely to continue rising. Many graphic designers say the adoption of AI has resulted in an increased workload, meaning there’s likely to be plenty of work available after you’ve learned enough to find employment as a graphic designer. 

One company worth watching closely is Adobe. Because graphic designers have relied on Adobe products above all others for so long, Adobe’s Firefly AI model is likely to eclipse the competition due to familiarity and brand loyalty. It’s worth your while to make sure you become familiar with it. 

Ethical and legal considerations

The ethical and legal considerations of AI in graphic design resemble those in text and research scenarios. 

Ethical implications of AI-generated designs

Copyright issues abound with regard to AI-generated design. For instance, you can prompt AI to create images in the style of a specific artist. This may or may not represent legal copyright infringement—whether it rises to the level of criminality depends on a number of factors—but it is certainly a factor you’ll want to consider when using AI. 

Businesses, for their part, remain watchful. Getty Images sued AI makers on copyright grounds. The question of copyright vis-a-vis AI is this: Who owns the copyright to a human-prompted, AI-derived image? Does the piece belong to the prompter? Does it represent some novel, human-machine collaboration? Can a machine take legal credit for its output? Does the machine’s “credit” in fact belong to the AI framework’s designer? 

AI copyright law may become a larger issue in the future: Just over half of users can tell the difference between AI-generated and human-originated content [5], suggesting that copyright infringement may become common. By remaining aware of these ethical pitfalls, you can begin your graphic design career without any major incidents.

Getting started on Coursera

Whatever the job of graphic designer looks like in the future, the large-scale adoption of AI will affect it. Learn about not just traditional techniques but current trends in AI as they relate to graphic design.

Get started with the Adobe Graphic Designer Professional Certificate, where you’ll explore visual storytelling principles and how to effectively communicate ideas through design.

professional certificate

Adobe Graphic Designer

Turn your passion into a graphic design career. Learn the design skills you need to create high-impact, on-brand visual content, and earn a credential that unlocks new career possibilities. No experience necessary. Three-month free trial offer included.

4.6

(258 ratings)

18,115 already enrolled

Beginner level

Learn More

Average time: 5 month(s)

Learn at your own pace

Skills you'll build:

Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Generative AI, AI Responsibly, Visual Design, Graphic Design, Branding, Creativity, Adobe Firefly, Visual Storytelling, Typography, Color Theory, Digital Design, Drawing, Brand Identity, Document Design, Layout and Composition, PDF editing, Image Editing, Photography, Photo Retouching