The Robots Are Coming, The Robots Are Coming

Mark Rutledge is one of Canada’s design leaders with deep roots and over 30 years of experience designing for Canada’s Indigenous communities and organizations. He is an international speaker/presenter, futurist, and proud Ojibway from Little Grand Rapids First Nation.

Over the past few months, I’ve had con- conversations with my creative colleagues about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it’s going to take over everything and that all our jobs will soon be obsolete.

Metathesiophobia, the fear of change, is at an unparalleled high. Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Neural Networks, Robotics and Data Science have become terms that we all know very well thanks in part to Hollywood. With movies like Blade Runner, Westworld, 2001: Space Odyssey, The Matrix, Star Wars, Star Trek, The Terminator (SkyNet), Wall-E, Ex Machina, A.I., Minority Report, I, Robot, Interstellar, and most recently, M3GAN.

AI has been in our lives for some time now and we may not have taken notice. Examples include GPS technologies, maps and navigation, facial recognition, text editors, the dreaded autocorrect, search and recommendation algorithms, chatbots, digital assistants, social media, and e-payment transactions.

When I think about conversations of the future and what changes will occur, it gives me a sense of déjà vu. Change is inevitable. Our industry has gone through significant shifts through the decades.

Many say that the history of graphic design began with the onset of moveable-type printing in the 15th century. However, we can trace it further back to the origins of early art drawn on rockfaces in South Africa some 73,000 years ago (predating any known cave paintings). Technically it can be defined as a form of visual communication. The next evolution was language itself and its visual representation as the alphabet.

The Sumerians are credited with the invention of writing (c. 3300 to 3000 BC). Printing using woodblock or relief printing on silk clothes and on paper occurred as early as the 6th century in China. Bi Sheng in 1040 invented the world’s first technique for printing with moveable type. Johannes Gutenberg brought moveable type to Europe in 1439. His design replaced wood with metal and printing blocks with individual letters. His namesake press was the first step in making literature accessible to the mass- es. It opened the way for more commercial uses of design.

With the Industrial Revolution (1760 to 1840) came newer technologies in printing such as lithography and chromolithography which were more efficient ways of printing.

Then came the digital age. Yes, I’m old enough to remember this transition. While in elementary school I was first introduced to the Macintosh computer. Who can recall when Photoshop and Microsoft Paint software emerged? During my time in college I saw how our industry continued to change. Who recalls rubylith, blueline pencils, stat machines and Letraset?

When I was just an emerging graphic designer, I witnessed an entire industry disappear seemingly overnight. Within commercial printing, the use of film, film houses and film strippers became obsolete. That was all eliminated with the advent of digital prepress technology using imposition software to ‘digitally strip’ pages together. The use of this software made printing more affordable, efficient, and accessible.

So, you may be asking yourself, why the history lesson? It’s to illustrate that our industry has constantly evolved and changed, and through these technological advances we have adapted and remained relevant.

“When I think about conversations of the future and what changes will occur, it gives me a sense of déjà vu.“

Let me reframe what I believe is our biggest fear: that Artificial Intelligence will limit our human agency. As this technology is be- coming more incorporated into our lives and jobs, there are some things we are still far more capable of doing better than AI. Creativity is at the top of that list.

ChatGPT, Artssy, Uizard, NightCafe, Jas- per.ai, Deepart.io, Bard, Dall-e and Adobe Firefly are simply tools. While AI has been used to great effect it still takes a considerable amount of hand-holding. It’s still not very adept at understanding the words it reads. It cannot yet demonstrate empathy or critical reasoning like humans can. Language processing, problem-solving, subtlety comprehension, and creativity remain beyond its grasp.

If creativity is defined as the use of imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work, then AI still has a considerable amount of learning to do. If history has taught us anything it’s that we are resilient, adaptable and continue to grow with each new advancement. As John C. Maxwell once said, “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”

Although AI has advanced considerably and, in most cases, has become essential in our lives, fear not my friends. The robots are still a long way from taking our jobs.

This story originally appeared in the Summer 2023 issue of Applied Arts magazine. To subscribe for just $19.99 a year, click here.