Christopher Adornato
vice-president / owner
For the past few years, we’ve heard the same prediction over and over:
AI is going to replace artists.
Designers. Animators. Editors. Illustrators. Photographers. Writers. Creative Directors.
Depending on who you listened to, entire creative departments were supposedly months away from becoming obsolete.
Well, we’ve now had enough time actually working with AI to start separating the hype from reality.
And what I’ve learned is almost the opposite.
AI isn’t particularly good at replacing artists. But it can be incredibly good at helping artists.
That distinction is important.
I’ve spent more than 25 years in the creative industry. During that time, I’ve watched technology completely transform how we work.
When I started using Adobe After Effects in the 1990s, digital tools were already changing the industry. Photoshop changed photography and design. Nonlinear editing changed video production. 3D software changed animation. Digital cameras changed filmmaking.
Every major technological shift came with some version of the same fear:
What happens to the artist?
The answer has usually been that the artist evolves.
AI is no different.
AI Is Amazing at Getting You From 0 to 50
One of the biggest things I’ve learned using AI in a professional creative environment is that AI can be incredible at getting you started.
Need 20 visual concepts?
AI can help.
Need to explore different compositions?
AI can help.
Need a storyboard before committing hours to production?
AI can help.
Need to clean up an image, generate a temporary voiceover, explore animation ideas, develop concepts, organize information or create variations?
AI can help.
Tasks that might have taken hours can sometimes happen in minutes.
That is a tremendous advantage.
But something interesting happens when you try to move from that initial idea to a polished, client-ready piece of creative.
Suddenly, the human becomes extremely important.
AI might get you from 0 to 50 incredibly fast.
An artist gets you from 50 to 100.
And those last 50 points are often where the real value is.
The Problem With “Good Enough”
AI can produce beautiful things.
But beautiful isn’t always the goal.
The goal might be on brand.
The goal might be emotionally appropriate.
The goal might be communicating one very specific idea to one very specific audience.
The goal might be making the client say:
“That’s exactly what I was trying to communicate.”
That requires understanding.
It requires context.
It requires taste.
Most importantly, it requires someone who knows why a creative decision is being made.
An experienced designer doesn’t simply know how to make something look good. They understand hierarchy, typography, composition, color, branding and communication.
An experienced editor knows that moving a cut by six frames can completely change how a moment feels.
An animator understands timing, anticipation, weight and personality.
A Creative Director understands how all of those decisions need to work together to tell a larger story.
AI can generate.
Artists decide.
That may be one of the most important lessons we’ve learned.
The Best AI Results Usually Have an Artist Behind Them
I’ve experimented with AI across many parts of the creative process, including design, video, animation, voice, imagery and concept development.
And I’ve noticed something consistently:
The better you understand the traditional craft, the better you are at using AI.
Give an AI image tool to someone who understands photography and they are thinking about lenses, lighting, depth of field, composition and framing.
Give it to an illustrator and they are thinking about shape, line, texture and style.
Give AI video tools to an experienced filmmaker and they are thinking about camera movement, editing, continuity and storytelling.
AI doesn’t eliminate those skills.
It actually makes those skills more valuable.
Because the tool can generate almost unlimited possibilities.
Someone still has to know which possibility is good.
AI Gives Artists More Superpowers
This is where I think the conversation around AI needs to change.
Instead of asking:
“How many artists can AI replace?”
Maybe companies should be asking:
“What can our artists accomplish now that they couldn’t accomplish before?”
That’s a much more interesting question.
A motion designer can suddenly experiment with imagery that previously required an illustrator.
An editor can generate temporary voiceovers before hiring talent.
A designer can rapidly visualize concepts before spending hours developing them.
A small creative team can explore ideas that previously would have required significantly larger budgets.
And Creative Directors can communicate ideas to clients faster than ever.
That’s not replacing creativity.
That’s expanding it.
But There Is a Catch
Artists need to embrace these tools.
Ignoring AI because you believe it threatens creativity isn’t going to stop AI from developing.
At the same time, companies shouldn’t assume that subscribing to an AI platform suddenly replaces decades of creative experience.
The opportunity is somewhere in the middle.
Artists need to learn AI.
And companies need to understand the value of artists who know how to use AI.
I believe some of the most valuable creative professionals over the next several years will be the people who can combine traditional creative skills with these new tools.
Not someone who simply knows Photoshop.
Not someone who simply knows After Effects.
And not someone who simply knows how to write an AI prompt.
It will be the person who understands creativity, storytelling and communication—and knows which tool to use to bring an idea to life.
We’ve Seen This Movie Before
Technology has always changed creative industries.
Photoshop didn’t eliminate designers.
Digital cameras didn’t eliminate photographers.
Nonlinear editing didn’t eliminate editors.
After Effects didn’t eliminate animators.
Those tools changed what was possible and changed the skills required to compete.
AI will do the same.
There will absolutely be disruption. Certain tasks will become automated. Some workflows will disappear. Others will become dramatically faster.
But I don’t believe the future of creativity is a computer sitting in an empty room generating content by itself.
I think the future looks much more interesting.
It’s an artist sitting in front of that computer with more creative power than they’ve ever had before.
And after spending the last year experimenting with these tools, that’s what excites me most.
AI isn’t making me want fewer creative people around me.
It’s making me wonder what talented creative people can accomplish when we give them these new tools.
Maybe we spent too much time asking whether AI could replace the artist.
The better question was always: