Use AI to Save on Time & Tedium

There are a proliferation of AI applications creeping into every corner of the industry, and with that, it might be wise to stop ignoring and start adopting. Within creative sectors, this is increasingly evident as the tools that are fundamental to our work roll out new AI-driven features.

Most notably, the precedent set by MidJourney and ChatGPT has been adopted by Adobe in the form of Firefly, and in Figma through their acquisition of Diagram, which brings AI-inspired UX/UI generation to its growing user base. On the surface, these moves seem in lockstep with the advancements in machine learning. However, the jury is still very much out on the controversial subject of ownership of works created through AI tools.

Within FINE, while we await clearer boundaries around intellectual property, we’ve taken to adopting AI for less consequential moves. From breezing through contextual mockups with Adobe Illustrator’s dimensional recognition, to shaving off countless minutes of precisely plotting mesh warps, or Photoshop subbing in AI generated populations around otherwise blank backdrops to provide realistic environments in imagery, a utilitarian utilization of AI spares designers’ tedium and valuable energy.

Likewise, with Figma, the options and expansion of AI plugins is growing exponentially. This gives greater autonomy to designers who can’t code and convenience to developers who would rather not interpret. Grid layouts, typographic style cascades, color palette generators; they’re all fair game with a spin through the plugins index, and spatial adjustments in the multiverse of breakpoints is simpler than ever.

But the question still remains: will the new car smell of AI ever give way to a scent that’s a little less… artificial? Only time will tell.