Graphic Designers

8%
Vote
Comments (36)

Will "Graphic Designers" be replaced by AI & Robots?

There is very little chance of this occupation being replaced by robots/AI. However, our poll suggests a higher chance of automation: a 38% chance of automation within the next 2 decades.

Automation Risk Level

Totally Safe

or 8% probability of automation

Projected Growth

1%

by 2024

People Employed

215,930

as of 2019

Median Annual Wage

$52,110

or $25.05 hourly

Compare
Most likely
Least likely

How this compares with other jobs: 161 out of 707

Cast Your Vote

How likely do you think this occupation will be taken over by robots/AI within the next 20 years?

People Employed (US)

Median Annual Wage (US)

Job description

Design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects.

SOC Code: 27-1024

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Comments

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Nadya (Highly likely) says
This has already happened. A Russian design studio has developed an AI designer and, for over a year, have been passing it off as a human. To date, the network has been used successfully in over 20 of the studio’s commercial projects. https://www.artlebedev.com/ironov/
Oct 22, 2020 at 09:27 PM
AnDrew (Highly likely) says
Not only are more people gaining skills like this due to automated services and an increase of simple interfaces, but there was a robot in the news recently who did a job like a human would.
Aug 17, 2020 at 04:17 PM
Ben (Could go either way) says
A lot of what graphic designers do could be replaced by AI. We already see this in how much easier it is to design anything (DIY interfaces)
Aug 14, 2020 at 04:43 PM
helen (Likely) says
(Likely)
I think AI will be able to foresee possible designs. It can take a previous design and alter it the way customer likes to. For example there are already some websites that automatically make you a logo when you choose a few criteria. Maybe if you are in your mid forties you'll be safe but for people who are currently in high school, you need to either work in a developing or 3rd world country (which the the salary of someone in the art field is really low) or your job could be possibly taken :(
Aug 12, 2020 at 12:29 AM
Lily (Small chance) says
I just don't believe a creative industry can be fully taken over by something not human
Aug 02, 2020 at 05:09 AM
Mohammad Raza (Highly likely) says
the current AI GAN models are already very capable, combined with something like GPT3 that understands english and context. Soon, all the designing tasks will be automated easily from logo designing, brochure designing, or even app UI designing.
Jul 23, 2020 at 06:54 PM
NeMy (Likely) says
Probably won't be replaced entirely soon, but automation will come quickly with AI, and many process of wireframe & UI will be automated. UX will probably still be needed in every case
Jul 20, 2020 at 10:01 AM
Radiant Graphics (Small chance) says
Graphic Design is based on your creativity not some mathematical calculations. It is unique to a person.
May 12, 2020 at 03:00 PM
charlie (Highly likely) says
online AI sites
Mar 19, 2020 at 03:36 AM
no-one keep scrolling says
WHO THE HELL IS Al?????
Jun 15, 2020 at 04:11 AM
sonder (Likely) says
Deep learning has been improving fast to the point that it could transfer styles from an image source to a target image now.
Mar 14, 2020 at 04:43 PM
Ramon (Small chance) says
well robots aren't creative, and at the time, they can't, but i still wouldn't dismiss it, because we have seen things like AI and machine learning where computers could create their own pieces.
Mar 09, 2020 at 03:03 AM
Kate (Highly likely) says
AI is already generating beautiful imagery. Wix.com uses AI to create the best layouts for websites already. I think this role is under threat.
Jan 30, 2020 at 07:23 PM
Anthony (Highly likely) says
Over the last two decades there have been developments into creating "artistic" forms of artificial intelligence. Although these have been somewhat behind human graphic designers, the result needn't be beyond or even equal to that of humans; it merely needs to be good enough.

Furthermore, what's being neglected here is that businesses are being consolidated. Even if a smaller company were to have some outstanding graphics design in their products and this would help them turn a profit, the result would either be getting bought out by a corporate entity or being kept from other necessary resources via less-than-honest means. (For argument's sake, shipping necessary materials to a small shoemaking business in oversized boxes, if they're even still sold)

Even if A.I. doesn't take this job, much fewer people will be able to make a living this way. With the steady creep of consolidation, people will eventually have no choice in what they buy. This is the age of the megafactory; the time where businesses control every aspect of their employees' lives from work to product to consumption to sleep-schedule. There is no need to concern oneself with how a product looks in such an environment and such frivolities can be easily handed to less-than-gifted A.I. if deemed desirable.

I can hardly speak from authority, but I think that (keeping A.I. and all other things in mind) anyone who worries about being an unemployed graphics designer or other such artist is right to be afraid.
Jan 10, 2020 at 03:51 AM
abbisent says
wow anthony try hard much...
Jun 15, 2020 at 03:53 AM
Mauricio Franco (Highly likely) says
AI and decision algorithms already deal with image generation that is suited to commercial production work, specially when paired with current market research methodologies that are easily scalable and automatable, like A-B testing.
Jan 04, 2020 at 07:02 PM
Karen3 (Likely) says
I was just watching my daughter play Fortnite, and really looking at the graphics, and I asked her if humans or robots had designed the new Christmas theme. She had no idea, so I find myself here. Not being a graphic designer, I shouldn't have a vote that counts, just an opinion.
Dec 25, 2019 at 03:03 PM
yeet (Highly likely) says
robots would make the images perfect
Nov 19, 2019 at 08:24 PM
Yes (Highly likely) says
Small steps in this direction have been already set, only for it to accelerate at a faster rate: https://algorithms.design/
Oct 18, 2019 at 10:39 AM
Nick van Breda (Highly likely) says
as Google is able to let AI make paintings already Graphic design is just an easy task to do for an AI, just blending drawing techniques into outcomes. I don't think that people who are running project-based companies would really need a graphic designer any longer as tools as Canva makes the task so simple and scalable that the Graphic designer of the future is a nichemarket or only part of big corporates that have to deal with IP/scarcity mindset.
Sep 25, 2019 at 11:54 AM
Mauricio Franco says
This is precisely the thinking that create terrible and non viable design. While I do think that AI can replace graphic designers with the correct training, graphic design ISN'T about tools like canva or Photoshop, it is about the way you interpret needs to craft messages through graphic representation (not exclusively visual). Don't ever start a B2C company with this thinking, you'll lose a lot of money
Jan 04, 2020 at 07:07 PM
Peter K Kristensen (Likely) says
As a designer, most work I do is based on rules and methods which can be feed into an AI.
I don't see them as take over completely, but making the basic design from information they are feed, and then I take over, so I will be more of digital assistant, that will speed up my work.
I will be more productive, and there will be less work for designers, as one designer can do more in shorter time.
Sep 25, 2019 at 06:08 AM
EBZ says
I run a small game studio, as soon as I can replace your ass, I will.
Nov 24, 2019 at 09:23 PM
Dr Philip Ely (Likely) says
The emergence of artificial intelligence engines in current design production tools is currently benefiting designer workflows. Purely visual designers in the future are likely to see more and more of their work (including design decision-making, origination and production) taken over by AI engines giving non-designers their work. The only saving grace for designers of the future will be that design as we know it will not be distinguished by 'craft' disciplines (e.g. graphic, digital, fashion) but along other lines - for example service designers or social designers. Designers will (hopefully) be taking on more strategic thinking roles, still requiring creativity and intuition but perhaps 'art directing' or 'design process planning' machines to solve human problems.
Sep 09, 2019 at 11:49 PM
Peter K Kristensen says
The AI will be a companion or assistant in the future.
But as design is based on rules and methods, most great design comes from bending or breaking those rules slightly... A skill an AI is capable of doing just yet, and the non-designer isn't competent enough to do in an esthetic way.
Sep 25, 2019 at 06:11 AM
Stephanie says
Humans sure love to have their process automated and then look on helplessly as they suddenly are out of jobs. Well, I have hope as I am a graphic designer extending my skillset beyond just plain design.
Sep 09, 2019 at 10:51 AM
Wary (Highly likely) says
Check out recent developments in neural networks. A large majority of graphic design done is low-level B2C or B2B communications - this can already be automated with designed templates and asset packages. It would be routine to create a ruleset to crank out different design packages with minor input - and thats before you get to any sort of 'artificial intelligence'. Feed a neural network a training set of Fortune 100 company logos in black and white, with words removed, and it can come up with similar abstract shapes that follow certain design ratios with ease.
Aug 16, 2019 at 05:49 PM
Jotta Fernandes (Highly likely) says
It's already happening.
Jul 08, 2019 at 02:45 PM
earthstorm (Small chance) says
it needs artistic sensitiveness and "knowing the sense of beauty" not only following some "Gestalt" or "Golden ratio" or Typographic rules
Jul 02, 2019 at 01:31 PM
Marinella (Small chance) says
We're starting to see automation in design where templates are readily available. Businesses such as Canva have created tools where non-designer folks would no longer need a graphic designer to do the work, but then again there are still designers at Canva designing these said templates, yet jobs are still being replaced.
Jun 27, 2019 at 01:05 AM
interested says
But Canva makes some really "cookie cutter" work. It's okay for my small mom-and-pop bake shop that wouldn't be able to afford anything else anyway, but a bigger corporation would need better design and visuals to succeed in a competitive marketplace. Likely, it would make pretty design more common but innovative and good design would need a human to work.
Feb 28, 2020 at 09:34 AM
JN (Could go either way) says
That's life. There's no telling. I'm not going to panic though. I'm part of the 10% of the world talented enough to stay employed and in demand if I so wish.
Jun 12, 2019 at 11:55 PM
Anon says
Low chance because they might not be able to show creativity, but they can imitate it and combine different works to make something different.
Jun 03, 2019 at 07:49 AM
Davide Pugliese (Likely) says
As other says there are already some AI driven tools.

Graphic designing sometimes needs also stuff like cutting objects from pictures, etc, and now there are tools for this task as well.

There are are also tools that generate palette templates automatically.

This means that lots of the tasks that took a long time due to the fact that decisions were taken "emotionally", until that "Eureka" moment, now are taken by an algorithm that can generate in a short time span many of the color palettes or take other design decisions that would have taken probably a couple of days to us to get to them.
May 10, 2019 at 10:26 AM
tom (Highly likely) says
there are already commercial graphic design AI, they're not great, but they could come a long way in 20 years
Apr 29, 2019 at 10:41 AM
he he says
that comment was posted on my birthday, oi my guy im a graphic designer and have created games (55% cod)
Jun 18, 2019 at 09:21 AM
Kyle says
I foresee a situation in that cheaply produced designs and especially layouts can be done through automation, and they will be cheap. The same being produced by a skilled designer will be original, but much more expensive. Therefore, most designs will be produced with automation due to cost, and few will be the product of humans.

Both will exist, but automation will drive all but a few very talented and connected designers out of the business.
Apr 24, 2019 at 03:51 PM
Anthony M says
It's entirely possible thanks to the large amount of widely available data. (data being creative works of graphic design individuals). Machine learning algorithms can replicate works of art in a way that will satisfy clients.

Granted, I don't think it will replace 100% of graphic designers. More-so, I think it would be closer to around 50-60%, while the top 50-40% will retain their jobs.

Same thing can be said about programmers and software developers.
Apr 24, 2019 at 03:48 PM
David (No chance) says
A computer can't replace human creativity.
Apr 13, 2019 at 02:44 AM
BigBoi says
AI's have already started to make songs and also movie trailers. It's just a matter of time until they can start doing it on a large scale. Here's the link of the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSHZ_b05W7o
Jun 17, 2019 at 08:55 AM
Luis Torres (No chance) says
It needs a lot of creativity and being original, something that robots are not really good at.
Apr 12, 2019 at 12:47 AM
John (Could go either way) says
I'm a graphic designer. Everything tends to look the same.
Apr 05, 2019 at 09:16 PM
Dana says
Subjective matters cannot be automated.
Apr 04, 2019 at 06:47 AM
Jonathan Ziegler says
The mainstay of designers, web sites, is largely automated. My other work, photo retouching, is already automating itself!
Mar 30, 2019 at 02:23 PM

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