Does Design Still Have a Seat at the Table?
I’m sure this will vary depending on who you talk to, but apparently Fast Company thinks it’s a thing of the past. I don’t know if this is AI related or just part of a changing economy, but many mid-career professionals and design managers are looking for work. However, the article describes a bunch of new networking opportunities for designers, so if you’re mid career and changing jobs, maybe you should check it out
The Ten Best AI Courses Right Now
I’ve written about this reluctantly in the past since, if we’re being honest, I’m not actually interested in taking an online class. After teaching and doing research all day, it would be hard for me to get through some of this. However, I will be selecting from this list when summer arrives and I have more time. If you have accepted your fate and realize that you need to add some AI skills to remain employable, here’s your curated list of the best resources you can access right now. Thanks! Tech Republic
AI Artist Makes $90k for Digital Game Cards
I’m not exactly saying that this is a good thing, just letting you know that it is a thing. To be clear, the artist in question has 15 years of experience and does spend some time cleaning up in Photoshop, but makes $15k a month and works only 2 days a week.
“We pay our AI artist 15,000 USD per month for exactly 10 hours of work," reads an X post from the official Champions TCG account. "Why? In that time, he still makes HUNDREDS of AMAZING bits of artwork—ASTRONOMICALLY FASTER than ANY team of traditional artists.”
Google Adds AI Video Generator to Google Drive
Okay, making a quick video for your work presentation is about as exciting as making another slide deck, but it’s becoming a necessary evil of modern life. So the clever folks at Google are now adding it to Drive so you can now generate a video with a few text prompts. Since Google frequently gets this right, expect it to be a mainstay in the near future. It’s currently in Beta, launches in June, and you can read a review and watch a pretty impressive demo video here or a read a longer review
Depressing, Dystopian Essay of the Week
So I’m just going to warn you, this is not a light-hearted read. Erik Hoel makes some excellent points in his essay, Here lies the internet, murdered by generative AI. However, if you have similar concerns that the web is turning into a dumpster fire and you’d like some data to back up those assertions, than this is a required read. While hard to digest, I subscribed after reading. Pour yourself a stiff drink.
Required Reading for AI UX Designers
If you’re currently working in UX and you think you might be working on a generative AI tool or feature you should definitely study the GenAI Compass Framework by Vincent Koc. This is a lengthy article, but it’s an incredible resource which I will make required reading in my classes. It outlines a series of best practices and existing patterns for generative AI while still holding true to the core principles of Human Centered Design.
The compass is more than a guide; it’s a distillation of real-world insights and success stories, a narrative of patterns and approaches that resonate across industries. It’s a blueprint for designers who aspire to blend generative AI into their work harmoniously, ensuring that each interaction feels intuitive, meaningful, and distinctly human.
Adobe Buying Footage to Train it’s Video Model
Adobe doesn’t want to miss out on this huge wave that Sora has released, but they clearly don’t want to get in trouble for recklessly scraping data. Instead of slurping data off of YouTube or other public sources, they’re paying video creators up to $3 a minute for stock footage to train the new LLM for a forth coming generative video tool. Check it out
Adobe is requesting more than 100 short clips of people engaged in actions and showing emotions as well as simple anatomy shots of feet, hands or eyes. The company also wants video of people “interacting with objects” such as smartphones or fitness equipment.
What an exciting time to be alive. I hope you’re having fun and learning a lot from this newsletter. As always, if you have any requests, send me a message. And don’t forget to share with your friends.