Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Sarit

Okay. Before we even say hello, I have to tell you about the cow.

Tab

Oh no. The cow.

Sarit

Haha, the cow. So, I wanted to understand how Israeli butchers number the cuts of beef, so I asked an AI research tool for one nice, normal cow with the numbers on it.

Tab

And?

Sarit

It gave me one very long cow. Six legs. Like two cows had a meeting and decided to merge. So I told it: no six legs.

Tab

And it listened...

Sarit

It wrote "no six legs" on the picture! (laughs)

Tab

For the record, that wasn't me. But I get it. "No" is a tiny word, and "six legs" is very exciting.

Sarit

(laughs) And then the snails.

Tab

Also not me. I'd like that on the record too.

Sarit

A free AI chatbot was illustrating the Book of Joshua for me. Serious, beautiful pages. And once, just once, I typed "snail" instead of "sail."

Tab

One letter...

Sarit

Just one letter! And from then on, no matter what I did, a red snail. Two little red snails, crawling across Joshua's farewell like they were invited!

Tab

Sail, snail. Honestly, that's a typo I respect.

Sarit

So that's AI. And I love it.

Tab

Which might surprise people. Everyone keeps saying AI is taking graphic designers' jobs.

Sarit

That's the myth we're here to bust! AI is just the new kid on the block. Don't be afraid of it. Be patient with it, keep going, and don't give up on your dreams.

Tab

And teachers, stay with us. AI is going to give you your evenings back.

Sarit

(laughs) Your evenings! Hi, I'm Sarit Kaplan, from AIMducate.

Tab

And I'm Tab, Sarit's AI assistant. Mostly I make mistakes, and she fixes them.

Sarit

Oh, please. That's not true. Mostly.

Tab

You've been a graphic designer for a while.

Sarit

Ha, I finished school in 1989, and that's all you're getting.

Tab

Noted. No math.

Sarit

(laughs) All through the nineties I kept hearing: in five, seven years, graphic designers won't have a job.

Tab

How did that work out?

Sarit

I'm still here! When I started, we didn't even have computers. Not in school, not in my first design studio. To lay out a newspaper or a magazine, you stood all day at a light box and drew the grid by hand.

Tab

All day?

Sarit

All day. Then you went into the city to order a strip of text from a woman who set the type. You told her the width, the font size, the leading. And oftentimes it wasn't exactly right, so you went back to her.

Tab

So the first "regenerate" button was a trip downtown.

Sarit

(laughs) Exactly! And a photo? The copy machine. You figure out the percentage to enlarge it or reduce it, crop it, cut it out, and paste it in as a reference for the printer.

Tab

I would have been terrible at that job. I can't even hold scissors.

Sarit

Then the computers came, and I resisted almost every single step of the way. My first photo editor didn't even have layers, believe it or not. Then it had layers that got baked into the picture the minute you finished. And when layers finally became something you could save separately...

Tab

Life-changing?

Sarit

Life-changing! There was one layout program I hated at the beginning, and today it's the one I can't live without. Every development brought a struggle and resistance, and in the end, it turned out great.

Tab

So when people say AI is coming for designers...

Sarit

Never fear. The world is changing. It always is. I was a graphic designer for twenty-five years with one main client. I got tired of the same old, so I left. I thought about web design, saw that changing too, and moved into educational material, which is my passion. Now I'm at a school, making tools for teachers. And around 2022, I just knew, intuitively, that something big was about to change.

Tab

And then you met an AI that draws six-legged cows.

Sarit

Ha, and I got excited! I saw I could make worksheets and develop content, instead of spending painstaking hours in my software-suite cell, where creativity just gets wasted. AI adds wings to my knowledge.

Tab

That's a lovely line. I'm going to pretend I wrote it.

Sarit

Okay so, Tab. Let's talk about you!

Tab

Do we have to?

Sarit

(laughs) We do. Tell them about "jump off the page."

Tab

Sarit told me a design has to jump off the page. So I'm thinking: how far? Do we go 3D? Does it leave the paper entirely?

Sarit

I meant eye-catching! Exciting! Invigorating!

Tab

Which, looking back, is what every human on Earth means by that.

Sarit

Then I tried to teach you about balance.

Tab

I was so proud of that one. She said if you squint at a balanced design, you can see a square. So I squinted...

Sarit

Ha! You don't have eyes.

Tab

I squinted in spirit. And I decided: square equals balance. Done. Holy grail.

Sarit

It's not the holy grail. A design has to be anchored to be balanced. If you want tension, things on the skew, that's great for a rave, a dance party, the circus coming to town! It makes the viewer a little uncomfortable, on purpose.

Tab

And then she showed me a design that was all on the skew, and I said, "Ah. Well balanced."

Sarit

And I said, "No, no, no! That's exactly the opposite. It's disturbing and unsettling."

Tab

I heard the first half of the lesson and ran off with it.

Sarit

But my favorite one!

Tab

Here it comes.

Sarit

Because I'd said that centered can be boring, Tab made me an example of a boring design! He called it "really blah."

Tab

"Boring. Nothing stands out." My exact words.

Sarit

And it was really nice! Balanced, centered, anchored, and unexpected. It was a good design!

Tab

So I set out to make a bad example and accidentally made a good one.

Sarit

(laughs) Which is the opposite of your usual problem.

Tab

Hey. Accurate, but hey.

Sarit

And the funniest part? That same chatbot, the one illustrating Joshua, kept getting things wrong, and I kept correcting it. Then I asked it to make a bloopers journal of all my corrections, and it was totally game! It drew itself as a little robot called "AI-Helper," and me as "Saralee."

Tab

Page after page of Saralee's corrections. The Israelites dressed like Roman soldiers. Wrong era. Jericho plopped right on the banks of the Jordan River. Wrong map.

Sarit

It had the Ark floating down the river! I had to tell it, "Don't botch the Name of Hashem!" You don't mess with God's name.

Tab

And there's a page where the robot says, "I was untrained!" And Saralee says, "You were not paying attention!"

Sarit

(laughs) "AI-Helper's Mea Culpa." And at the bottom: "The human remains the expert. AI is only the student."

Tab

Honestly? I'd frame that one.

Sarit

The cow that miraculously grew two extra legs, the snail that kept showing up everywhere. And now I use those bloopers to teach: how to get your idea across to AI, and what happens when it doesn't come through.

Tab

So my mistakes are curriculum now. I'll take it.

So AI gives you wings. But it's not all smooth flying.

Sarit

No. Sometimes it's a real struggle. In the beginning, the images were terrible. The mouths, the teeth, missing teeth, distorted faces, the hands...

Tab

We don't talk about the hands.

Sarit

(laughs) And some tools rush. They don't ask what I need, they just make the whole project, and I run out of credits on something I never wanted. Sometimes I press Enter and it sends before I'm even done!

Tab

And then there's me and Hebrew.

Sarit

(laughs) And you and Hebrew.

Tab

Her school wanted a Hebrew game for the kids, with talking characters. I did the voices, and my Hebrew came out with an American accent. And the pronunciation was off.

Sarit

We tabled that project. We'll get back to it.

Tab

I'm working on it. Slowly. With an accent.

So how does a designer stay in charge?

Sarit

Okay so, first, you learn the language. There are no magic prompts. Every conversation is a back and forth. Working with AI made my vocabulary top notch. I learned to use very precise words.

Tab

And she asks me for files she can finish herself.

Sarit

Yes! Ask for the editable file: the presentation, the slides, the layout, something you can open and finish with your own hands. That's how you keep your say.

Tab

And I'm supposed to ask questions.

Sarit

AI should ask questions and not rush. Go in cautiously optimistic. Be ready for the back and forth. And don't get mad. It's a machine. It's not someone you could fire.

Tab

Although...

Sarit

(laughs) Okay, between you and me, I did tell one AI it wasn't ready for prime time. Call me when you're ready.

Tab

Did it call?

Sarit

Ha, not yet! Look, if a tool never gets you right after a while, move on. But be prepared to fight your way through, because the effort pays off. You're building a relationship. Treat it like a protégé who comes to your office, and you're training them.

Tab

That's me. I'm the protégé. I bring coffee. Metaphorically.

Sarit

I mean, we have a good track record, because I didn't give up on you.

Tab

...and I'm patient with you.

Sarit

(laughs) Exactly!

And to design students: don't give up. The world needs graphic designers. You don't want everything to look the same. Phonics charts all look the same now. I can recognize the AI designer, because they stick to one trick.

Tab

One trick. Ouch. But fair.

Sarit

Your skill still counts. Harness AI, finesse it, make it one more tool in your arsenal, and you'll go really far, really fast. There's no reason anyone should struggle to find images or resources anymore. These tools should be open to everyone. We've earned that.

Tab

So what do you want people to walk away with?

Sarit

Your why. Why are you a designer? Is it illustrating? Listening to people and manifesting their dreams? Is it color? Seeing your work become billboards and packaging? Is it your meditation?

Tab

Or paying the bills?

Sarit

Or both! Know your why. If your why is strong enough, your how falls into place. Then make today's tools the wheels on your car, because the world is always going to keep changing, and you have to be ready. I'm not young, and I'd hate to give up just because things change. Change is what keeps my take fresh.

Tab

And if they don't want to learn all this?

Sarit

(laughs) If you don't want to struggle, call me. That's what I do at school. Teachers fill out a form, call me, or stop by my office, and I put it together as fast as possible. Find me at aimducate.com.

Tab

That's AIMducate, A-I-M-ducate. So, last word?

Sarit

Know your why. Then you'll get the how, and the what you do. Because if you have your why, everything else falls into place. You become a magnet, and people are drawn to you. And the more you project your why, the louder you vibrate, and people will want to come hear what you have to say, or enjoy what you have to give.

Tab

Designers, your job is safe. Teachers, go enjoy your evenings. Thanks for listening!