Let’s let the cat out of the bag from the beginning, so that we don't waste the time of the readers who are here just to know if AI will replace them in their jobs, the short answer is: no. For the longer version of the answer and more, just keep reading.
Sorry for that opening, but I know how it is to have a full agenda, and in the meantime, you still want to stay informed about what’s going on, but more importantly, you want to reassure yourself that you are not wasting your time, investing it on a job that it will only be temporary.
Having said that let’s jump on what we’re here for, and what seems to be on everyone’s lips nowadays, Ai, what it is, and how will the world benefit from it.
The movies have done it hundreds of times by now, but is AI anything like in the movies on the big screen or in the smaller ones in our homes?
Is AI like Eva in the movie Ex-Machina, smarter than people, deceiving, selfish, and inconsiderate like her?
Image 1: Ex Machina Movie
See how I used those adjectives like we’re talking about a real person. Can a machine be smarter than the people who built it? It has the capacity to learn and to be faster than humans in performing tasks, but it has the analytical thinking that the people who worked on it gave it. Let’s say: if you gave it thousands of cat pictures wrongly labeled as dogs, it will absorb that information, and later if you gave it a picture of a cat labeled as it is, a cat, how do you think it will react? Do you think it will doubt what it knows? Do you think it will go back and rewrite the information it already has? It will just label this photo as a dog also, and all the other cat photos that will follow, because that’s what its creators told it. And here we come to the deceiving, selfish, and inconsiderate adjectives. The AI has a job to do and it will find the way to do it, without stopping and thinking twice about the moral harm it can cause. Without guidance, it is just a machine fulfilling its mission.
What about Samantha in the movie Her? Can it be a voice on the computer, who we’ll fall in love with?
Image 2: Her Movie
A voice it can be, and we met her years ago, although with another name. You might know her as Alexa, or maybe as Siri, depending on the device you are using. To improve their performance over time, they rely on two subsets of AI: machine learning and natural language processing. Have we fallen in love with them? Not in the real manner of speaking, humanity is not in that state of reality detachment just yet, and I have high hopes that it never will, but we love how easily they make us do some tasks.
Now those tasks are growing in numbers.
Slack is improving communication at work through the power of AI.
Figma just announced in Figma Config 2023, their intent to use AI to name document layers. Yay!
Photoshop Beta version is doing great in the creative world and photographers are loving the new features.
And the list goes on.
As it goes on also for the websites that use AI to generate from logos to websites, you name it. No wonder people are scared of losing their jobs. But you shouldn’t. Not in the near future at least. The state of the AI, as is, although it is moving a lot faster than expected, doesn’t put at risk your job in its entirety. I will try to explain what I mean by it.
The type of AI that is having such success currently is Generative AI. And as the name itself indicates, it has the ability to generate text, imagery, sound, and code. Doesn’t sound like Eva right? Of course not. Robots of our beloved movies are much more complex, and such a technology is quite far into the future, although every step we take, leads to that.
So my dear fellow designers, don’t be afraid. Try to use this era of technology to your own advantage, because as we mentioned a bit earlier, one thing that AI does best is help us perform some tasks faster and makes our work easier. What tasks are these? In the case of UX design, AI can support designers with:
User Research and Insight: AI can analyze larger volumes of data in a shorter time than the designers themselves
Image 3: User Research
Personalization Features: AI can create personalized experiences by analyzing user data
Image 4: Personalization Features
Prototyping: AI can automate the process by generating different variants based on the designer’s input
Image 5: Sketching and Prototyping
User Testing and Feedback: AI can provide real-time feedback through an automated process
Image 6: Usability Testing
Natural Language Process and Content Generation: AI can help with copywriting and chatbots
Image 7: Language & Copywriting
Accessibility: AI can identify potential accessibility issues
Image 8: Accessibility
You might think that this is all of a UX Designer’s duties, but I think you are forgetting that creativity, empathy, and critical thinking are not AI’s forte, and since those are crucial for a seamless user experience, this is where the UX Designer’s service comes in hand.
So let’s be excited for the present and the bright future ahead of us and make the most out of it.
