Is Your Creativity at Risk? The Truth About Using AI-Generated Illustrations in Design Projects

Design students in India, focusing on their B.Des project or the All India Design Aptitude Test, are wondering: Should they include AI-generated illustrations in their work, or is this an easy way out? As machine learning graphics and AI technologies take hold online, let’s take a close look at the facts and dispel any myths. 

Why Are AI Illustrations All of a Sudden Everywhere?

AI art and illustrations are everywhere, no matter the field or need. On sites like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and Canva Magic Studio, people can make eye-catching and creative graphics within seconds, regardless of their design skills. All they need to do is put in a prompt and let the AI generate their vision. Architects and designers around the globe, such as Shail Patel, David Szauder, Joann Ann Zaha Hadid Architects, and Manas Bhatia from India, are using AI in design to help them quickly come up with creative designs. 

New Design Partner: AI-Generated Illustrations

We’re not suggesting you let machines design everything on their own while you drink your cold coffee. You can add creative, AI-generated images to your design work, whether for B.Des, All India Design Aptitude Test or something you’re adding to your portfolio. Machine learning graphics and automated illustrations can improve your design portfolio if you use them to express your unique vision.

If you already know what you want your main image to look like, but you can’t choose the right background, this tip will help. You don’t have to sketch for a long time; you simply enter your prompt in the tool, and an illustration appears, ready to blend into your work. Doesn’t that sound good to you?

Many experts and opinion polls reveal AI in design can be an advantage when used properly.  Here is how:

1. Time Saver: Most of the professionals surveyed agree that AI reduces the time and cost needed in the design process.
2. Inspiration Booster: Experts and students have found that reaching a creative block is when AI helps by sparking new ideas.
3. Accessibility: For those who haven’t learnt a lot yet, AI in design allows them to make complex things happen quickly.

Machine learning graphics can really feel as if you hired the most productive junior designer imaginable and one who isn’t demanding about work or compensation.

The Bad: Repeating, Copyright and the Personal Element

If your question is, “What are the risks of using AI in design portfolios?” The answer is AI does not work perfectly. It is built using a huge amount of existing graphics and trained on designs of top designers who exist and existed in the world, resulting in:

• Similarity Overload: Users are concerned that AI-generate images might all look alike, so your project gets lost instead of noticed.
• Copyright Headaches: Working in design, specialists focus on the importance of originality and ownership of ideas. Sometimes, making AI art that looks like someone else’s can lead to legal problems.
• Machines are replacing human contact in industries: AI isn’t capable of joy, pain or stressing about the last minute. Art may not have the depth and personality that give it staying power.

So instead of Googling “Risks of using AI in design in portfolio”, better find ways of putting your creativity in your portfolio instead of letting AI own it.

Is Your Ability to Be Creative Waning?

This is where everything starts to count. When you depend completely on AI, where does this leave your own drawing and sketching skills? Experts say that relying on AI too much may make us forget basic skills, just as using a calculator for simple math problems can.

• Lowering the Value of Work Skills: If AI makes it so easy to produce a design in just seconds, there’s no need to learn how to draw one yourself. Thinking that way may decrease your desire to practice and develop your abilities.
• Creative Stagnation: When you often use automated illustrations, you don’t practice the drawing skills that challenge you. Eventually, this may cause you to become less innovative in your ideas and allow AI to be your replacement.
• Emotional Disconnect: Art serves to bring people together. Because everything is created by machines, viewers rarely get to know the artists, and art blends together and is soon forgotten.

According to the experts, the key is to balance

Many skilled designers and educators urge students to see AI as something useful, not something we depend on. AI illustrations are easy to make use of when you don’t have much time, but they aren’t meant for the long term. Use them to spark your ideas or close first gaps they suggest, but don’t forget what makes your writing stand out.

See, Batman has Robin as his partner, Sherlock has Watson, you can also have a partner. So, no matter if AI helps you create the graphic, you are still the main leader, and you are the one who should decide what has to be done. Just remember not to let Robin make the call for you!

Psychological Impact of Using AI for Designing

As said earlier as well, it’s easy to get caught up using AI-based images. Initially, it’s almost magical because your searches are answered right away. Still, those in the field worry this convenience might make people less creative. Consistent daily avoidance of creativity may cause your creative talent to decline. Reliance on AI over time could lead to students losing confidence in themselves, having a harder time with creative thinking and feeling less involved in what they do.

If you need a fast design solution, see AI-generated illustrations as a “jugaad.” It allows you to complete tasks without wasting time even when pressure is high. Just as duct tape can’t solve every dilemma, AI shouldn’t be used for all creative work. There’s a good chance that the best ideas will appear once you’ve struggled to solve a problem on your own.

Is it right or wrong to use AI for design projects?

You aren’t hurting anything by using AI illustrations in your work, but if you depend on them too much, it might not go well. You are a designer; if you’ll let AI in design be YOU, what will your identity be? This is not about something ethical or something illegal but about yourself, your identity as a designer. You should allow your skills, creativity and emotions to work together with the strong speed and power of AI. We are not asking you to fully rely on AI or completely neglect it; use both together as required but ensure your creativity and skills stay intact. Practice design, spend time creating things on your own, and keep polishing your skills. 

For the design project in either B.Des or the AIADT portfolio creation, consider AI tools for ideas, but make sure you are the one in command of your design so that it is recognisably and uniquely yours. AI may create plenty of graphic designs, yet only you can truly make art that feels authentic to you. Questions like “How will they know if I’m using AI?” or “Can I use AI illustrations in my design projects?” or “Is using AI-generated art for design exams allowed? or “Can I let AI make my B.Des project?” are some questions to contemplate upon. 

So, the next time you’re ready to let AI do everything, keep in mind: your creative side becomes stronger when you use it regularly. No AI, however advanced, can substitute for your personal creative genius. YOU ARE A DESIGNER, NOT A CLIENT; ACT LIKE ONE! 

Last but not least, if you are someone who is unsure whether designing is your calling, take a free career consultation at Edinbox and understand who you can be. Remember, AI can steal your identity if you are not uniquely you. Think carefully about whether designing is for you because mediocre people have no stand in this AI driven world.