Rise of the machines: How illustrators can avoid being replaced by AI

Stories of brands using AI in their latest campaign have become a daily occurrence. Whether it's Coca-Cola, Adidas or BMW, AI is being used by some of the world's richest companies to cut costs and do the work of creatives. AI has even won awards for its illustration work from creative bodies such as Communication Arts and the Colorado State Fair.

Once notorious for its use of extra fingers, contorted faces and garbled text, AI is developing quickly and ironing out tell-tale mistakes. In the hands of an experienced prompter with some Photoshop knowledge, AI can produce work nearly indistinguishable from the real thing.

If you're a freelance illustrator, it's easy to wallow in despair and imagine your job will soon be taken over by a faster, cheaper AI alternative. As illustration agent James Hughes mentioned in his article, Is AI really coming for your illustration career?, many illustrators have expressed a decline in commissions and suspect AI has undercut them. Whilst economic factors play a large part, it's clear that AI illustration is a new, rapidly developing competitor in the creative industries.

But with encouraging signs of an economic uptick, commissions have increased, and perhaps AI isn't quite the fierce rival it first appeared to be. An important part of freelancing is planning ahead and ensuring there's enough work coming in to pay the bills. Some forward-thinking about how to approach AI could help your career flourish. With the help of industry experts, here are some ideas on how to best avoid being replaced by AI.

Learn the language

Understanding how AI image generation works can help make the technology less intimidating. Understanding its limitations can also help you recognise areas that can only be performed by a skilled human illustrator.

"The toothpaste isn't going back in the tube," says AI expert Alex Luketa. Alex is a co-founder of AI solutions provider Xerini and works daily with the latest AI technology. "We regularly butt up against the limitations of this tech, and it's by no means perfect."

AI image generation software such as Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion work using large language models (LLMs). LLMs are trained using huge datasets to respond to natural language text inputs, or 'prompts'. In the case of AI image generation, the dataset contains 'hundreds of millions' of illustrations harvested from the web. The LLM software reads a text prompt and then uses its dataset of existing images to predict the new illustration.

It's all in the details

While AI image generators can produce impressive results, logic and important details can sometimes be misinterpreted.

"DALL-E still struggles when responding to feedback about specific attributes and changes to details. Understanding that these are just statistical models that generate data purely based on learned data is key, and progress has certainly plateaued," adds Alex.

Simple things like adding labels to the correct position on a diagram or changes to composition can confuse the AI software. As the AI image generator has been trained on existing artwork, it can struggle to comprehend new and abstract concepts.

AI is very efficient at producing illustrations where the exact details aren't important. Perfect for rough storyboards or prototypes that will only be seen in-house. AI images are also popular for 'filler' online content designed to grab the viewer's attention but not studied too much. It's the modern-day equivalent of clip art.

The original idea for an AI illustration needs to come from the human prompter. So, the image generator is limited to whatever text the user inputs. The best kind of editorial illustration can summarise an entire article into a simple, well-executed image, but realising the concept behind the image is a specialist skill in its own right.

Add the human touch

"Art directors commission people as well as a portfolio, and I think even more so now in the age of AI, it's absolutely vital to make sure you put yourself into your work," says freelance illustrator, Ollie Hirst.

"If you find an aspect of yourself to infuse into your work, that's consistently going to be something you can own, despite how advanced a technology becomes," adds Ollie.

Add your own unique style to your work so AI can't imitate it. Creating personal projects that are close to your heart will help you realise your own unique style. New ideas, initiative, and personality are what set illustrators apart from AI.

"I've not specifically commissioned an illustration made by AI yet, and right now, I don't intend to," says Creative Director, Claire Cheung.

"I commission illustrations because I want to use a visual in an illustrator's unique style, but I also love working with artists on the ideas side, creating something new, fresh, current and bespoke," explains Claire.

Embrace AI tools

From extending image backgrounds to creating 3D models of 2D drawings, AI can be a useful addition to an illustrator's toolbox. Learning how AI can speed up a process and what its limitations are can help you stay one step ahead in the freelance industry.

AI is now embedded in our everyday digital tools and being heavily pushed by Google, Adobe, and social media platforms. It can help us with our email, accounting, and marketing and will become an essential tool for running a small business.

"If AI can be embraced to aid us with the necessary mundane admin jobs, then this will free us up with time to be more creative and concentrate on what we love," says Claire. "I don't think AI will take our jobs, but the creatives using AI will. It's time to embrace it and use it to our advantage."

Get real

Some clients will be perfectly happy using AI-generated images on their websites, book covers, or annual reports. If quick and cheap are their priorities, then these are not the clients you should be looking for.

Seek out clients who value quality illustration and can recognise an AI-generated image when they see one. Nurture these relationships and build a network of repeat clients who can recommend you in the future.

Set yourself apart from AI and show your face. Get to know people through real-life networking events or sell your artwork at markets. Think of physical skills and events that AI would be unable to replicate and add these to your portfolio. Hand-painted murals, live illustration, tutoring, and workshops are just a few possibilities.

Adding extra strings to your bow is also a good idea. AI might be able to create an illustrated logo, but can it also animate it perfectly, create assets for social media and illustrate an accompanying brochure without any mistakes? Think about diversifying your skills so you can offer the complete package to clients.

Don't panic!

For those fearing being replaced by AI, illustrator Ollie Hirst gives a reassuring message,

"I really believe that it's maybe not as much of a threat as the doomsday-style conversations make it out to be. Of course, I'm not naive enough to believe AI is going to disappear one day, but as a professional in the industry working in editorial and advertising mostly, I haven't yet come across a situation where I've lost out to a job from AI."

"I know it's definitely being used as an internal concepting tool in advertising, mostly to adhere to intense client timelines, but we aren't at the stage yet where it's being used for full-on final craft from what I see."

When asked about the future of AI illustration, Claire Cheung says,

"I think as more AI users get to grips with using the tools, the more diluted artwork will become. Ideas will only be regurgitated from existing scraped imagery, creativity and imagination will dissipate, and everything will start looking the same."

"Illustrators have a superpower to produce unique and bespoke artwork that stays in line with our fast-changing society."

If the stories of AI replacing artists give you reason to worry, remember AI only knows existing concepts. A machine can not emulate originality, personality and passion… yet.