What AI gives and what it takes away

The Double-Edged Sword of AI What Typography Designers Can Gain and Lose

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform industries and revolutionize daily lives, typography design professionals must navigate its implications. This blog post explores both the benefits and drawbacks of AI on the profession, examining what designers can gain from embracing AI-powered tools and what they may lose if they become too reliant on them.

Innovation and Progress

The meeting between US President Donald Trump and technology leaders in 2025 marked a significant milestone in securing the country's position in the AI space. The gathering emphasized the potential of AI for good, highlighting its applications in healthcare, agriculture, and education. Bill Gates' remarks underscored the importance of using AI to drive innovation and progress.

The Rise of AI

According to Deloitte's Tech Trends report, AI is transforming daily lives by making tasks more efficient and fast-paced. AI tools perform simple tasks, while content consumed and interacted with becomes data points for user preferences and the basis for what they engage with next. These advancements have led many to consider AI as the next big wave of industrial revolution.

Concerns about Over-Reliance

However, concerns about AI's impact are growing. The risk of losing know-how to perform tasks without it due to over-reliance has surfaced, driving apprehensions about humanity becoming too dependent on technology. As we navigate this landscape, it's crucial to balance human creativity and judgment with the use of AI.

A Balanced Approach

Instead of asking whether AI is good or bad, we should consider alternative perspectives. What does AI add or take away? How does it elevate or decrease the human experience? By examining these questions, we can better understand the implications of AI on typography design and its professionals.

Simulations, Training, and Creativity

AI has brought the digital world closer to lived reality, as seen in the medical field where simulations are helping doctors and nurses train. This pushed one public health authority in British Columbia to invest in simulation models for improved patient care. Moreover, AI-generated creative works, such as images from prompts, have democratized access to creative production.

Genomic Foundation Models and DNA Alteration

Eric Nguyen's work on genomic foundation models is evolving, including possibilities of prompting AI to understand sources of illnesses or find permanent cures based on DNA. However, these developments raise concerns about the unknown and the fear of losing control is magnified.

Creative Disruption and Originality

The arts have progressed through history, transforming from spoken word to written text to printed books. Fast-forward to GenAI, which has democratized access to creative production and consumption, generating thousands of images from prompts that go viral in seconds. Spotify's AI DJ creates personalized playlists based on one's listening history. However, this innovation raises questions about the value of human creativity in music production.

Taylor Swift's Originality

Taylor Swift's songwriting process is a testament to her dedication and hard work. AI-generated music can be seen as taking the shortcut, diminishing the creation journey.

Conclusion

As the world continues to evolve at a pace never seen before, it's crucial for designers to lean in, learn about AI, and use it responsibly. With humans in the loop, people should explore and make progress in many areas using AI as a tool, ultimately deciding how much humanity poses to gain or lose.

About the Author

Tricia Ong is the technology strategy and transformation leader at Deloitte Philippines. For comments or questions, email [email protected].

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Keywords AI, typography design, innovation, creativity, disruption, GenAI, music production, originality, human experience

Edward Lance Arellano Lorilla

CEO / Co-Founder

Enjoy the little things in life. For one day, you may look back and realize they were the big things. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.