“Finally… I’m being replaced.”
There’s a mindset that sees little value in creative work, prioritising automation, speed, and efficiency, sometimes bypassing designers altogether.
And that’s fine. Outcomes usually reflect the approach: quick, inexpensive — consumed, forgot. When execution becomes the goal, differentiation disappears.
But serious clients understand something deeper. Design is where purpose meets beauty and where value is created. They don’t focus on whether the output is AI-assisted or manual. What they invest in is:
Taste.Thinking.Execution.
AI is rapidly transforming execution and it’s a powerful tool. But execution alone is no longer the advantage. Execution without taste becomes noise. Execution without thinking becomes decoration.
Some might say, “I can develop taste and thinking myself with AI.” Of course, just as one could attempt dentistry on their own teeth. Professionals exist for a reason… they see what others don’t, and decide what others can’t.
Below are screenshots of the brief and exploration process, both AI-assisted and manual. While AI can produce outputs faster, both workflows clearly rely on direction, judgement, taste, and ideation to reach meaningful results.