ai isn’t meant to replace anyone
In 2024, I thought a lot about generative AI.
In 2025, I’m ready to talk about it.
As a person who has only ever worked in creative fields (illustration, photography, graphic design), when AI hit the mainstream, it drew a healthy amount of concern as various news and social media outlets predicted my job would quickly and surely get replaced. Then I saw AI struggle to create human hands that didn’t have a sixth or seventh finger. Whew. Then I saw AI overcome it. Oh no. AI’s ability to learn can be seen as intimidating or incredible– I choose the latter, and I think AI has a real place in the world, if guided by creative hands.
I would like to see companies build AI into their existing creative practices, rather than using AI as a means of eradicating creative teams entirely. This is ~just speculation~, but I think we would have seen a very different Skechers ad placement in last month’s Vogue issue (December 2024), if that viral advertisement had seen proper rounds of editing and feedback that is traditional to a full-fledged creative team. I personally do not believe Skechers used a creative team (internal or external). The obvious faults that have been pointed out by the Internet (gibberish writing on storefront awnings, creepy indistinct faces in the background, the models wearing high heels for a sneakers ad?) only further amplify the importance of creative checks and balances, and why they can’t be disregarded. Any creative director, photographer, illustrator, retoucher I know would’ve fought tooth and nail to have these details perfected prior to launch.
While Skechers is this month’s AI fail, it’s not alone. I’ve seen some very poor use of AI-generated ads while casually browsing Instagram in the last year. My unsolicited advice to fellow creatives: learn how to use AI. We know it’s here to stay, but it is nothing without your creative point of view. Harness this new power we’ve been given, and be a future leader in this space instead of a victim left in it’s wake.
-Vivian Loh, founder of AIRIS Studios
Image: Fast Company