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AI Graphics vs Graphic Designers

6/18/2026

Riverside, CA. - I've been experimenting with AI since the early days of ChatGPT, before paid subscriptions were even available. After years of testing, creating, and pushing these tools as far as I can, I've come to a pretty simple conclusion:

AI is an incredible tool, but it's still a tool.

A lot of people ask if AI is going to replace graphic designers. Personally, I say perhaps? But I think 9/10 times a non designer vs an experienced designer definitely produces very different results. Today its far more possible for an average person to produce really good graphics. If you have little to no design experience, "prompt skills" makes it possible for you to appear like you do.

The truth is, these days ANYONE can be a graphic designer. AI tools in combination with free design software is accessible to everyone these days. And yes, people most likely experience polar opposites; successful or unsuccessful results. Sometimes, a company or an influencer can get away with full AI generated graphics. If your prompts produce visuals that are simple/complex, but minimal, and clean.. this is an option that businesses never had previously. I can only imagine the excitement a business owner must feel with this option available.

Can AI create amazing images? Absolutely. Some of the results are genuinely impressive. But in my experience, an AI graphic often needs to be modified by hand. There is usually something off. Sometimes it's the composition, sometimes it's the typography, and sometimes it's the details the need revision.

To the average person, a fully AI-generated graphic might look fantastic. To a designer or trained eye, it's often obvious. As these AI tools become more integrated with our day to day. I think average people are becoming more aware of AI generated graphics.

That doesn't mean AI isn't effective. In fact, I use it all the time. The difference is that I don't use it to create 100% of the project. Often times, I use it to create pieces/parts/elements of a vision. Other times I use it to revise subtle details or add/enhance the final touches.

I might generate individual elements, icons, illustrations, textures, or concepts. Then I bring those pieces into my own canvas and arrange them myself. I add the typography, adjust the layout, and make sure everything works together. AI helps create the ingredients, but the design process is still guided by a human.

The amount of AI I use depends entirely on the project. Sometimes it might be 1% of the process. Other times it might be 80%. There is no fixed formula. The goal isn't to use more AI and cut corners. The goal is to create the best possible result.

I do think we're seeing a huge increase in fully AI-generated graphics now and in the years ahead. Businesses, brands, and social media creators are already embracing it. But as more AI-generated content fills the internet, I think the value of a trained eye becomes more and more normalized.

Anyone can generate an image.

Not everyone can recognize what needs to be changed.

That's where graphic designers still have an advantage.

Could AI eventually create graphics that are impossible to distinguish from human-created work? Probably. In some cases, we're already there. But even then, I believe the strongest work will still involve human direction, human taste, and human decision-making.

Graphic design isn't disappearing. It's transcending, evolving. Also its co-existing with people of all levels of prompt skills.

The tools are changing, but creativity still matters. If anything, AI to me is like having a booster pack attached to my existing skillset. It extends the ceiling of my own limitations. Which is really cool and scary at the same time. For the ceiling within the AI tools itself, is limitless.

Blog / AI Graphics vs Graphic Designers
by @evanipo

AI Generated Graphics
Below are examples of graphics that are obviously AI Generated. I pulled these graphics from various business social media posts live on Linkedin. The creators of these graphics are unknown, but the artwork is 100% AI Generated.