The AI Question That Will Define Your Graphic Design Career

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Angry Designer – “The AI Question That Will Define Your Graphic Design Career”

Date: February 17, 2026
Hosts: Massimo & John
Theme: Confronting the accelerating impact of AI on the design industry and how designers can future-proof their careers.

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode tackles the uncomfortable but urgent question confronting every designer today: “Prove to me what you can do that AI can’t.” The hosts dive deep into what AI’s explosive transformation means for hiring, job security, value, and positioning in the design world, referencing statements from the world’s top AI leaders. The conversation is a reality check for designers to get ahead of AI, not fear or ignore it—and to understand how their irreplaceable skills must evolve.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Industry Fear and The Fundamental Shift in Designer Value

• (00:00-03:34)
  • Massimo lays out the existential anxiety: Top AI leaders (Altman, Musk, Zuckerberg) say disruption is happening way faster than even they predicted.
  • “Prove to me what you can do that AI can’t. Let that sink in for a second. Kind of scary, isn’t it?” (Massimo, 00:49)
  • Job interviews are changing, companies are cautious about hiring, and tens of thousands of white-collar jobs have already vanished.

2. What the AI Titans are Really Saying (with Key Quotes)

• Accelerating Timelines:

  • “What they were estimating was going to take them 10 years is now 1-2 years away.” (Massimo summarizing AI CEOs, 05:13)

• Execution vs. Judgment:

  • “With the advancement of AI, execution just becomes cheap… but judgment becomes expensive.” (Massimo, 05:14)
  • Designers can’t just rely on their output; the real skill is what happens in your head, not on the screen.

• Key C-Suite Quotes & Takeaways:

  • Jensen Huang (Nvidia): “It’s a good time to be a plumber” (symbolically—problem-solvers with expertise will thrive, routine jobs will die). (07:44)
    • “Plumbers don’t just go in, connect pipes, and walk out. They assess the problem every day. They are problem solvers in every case.” (Massimo, 08:37)
  • Sam Altman (OpenAI):
    • “A task that used to take two weeks last year can now be done in 10 to 20 minutes.” But the test isn’t about speed; it’s about “if you can direct AI to do what you need.” (12:47–13:10)
    • “He’s seeing if people can embrace AI, not compete against it, because in that field, it’s toast.” (Massimo, 12:57)
  • Mark Zuckerberg (Meta):
    • “Most of the meta code that is going to be written in the near future is going to be by AI agents… Humans will become the directors of AI teams.” (14:42)
    • “The human is shifting up in the value chain, when it comes to direction, oversight, guiding and shaping. AI is the workers; humans are the directors.” (Massimo, 15:09)

3. Concrete Changes for Designers

• Designers face a crossroads:

  • Those relying on tools and execution alone are rapidly becoming replaceable.
  • The value now comes from thinking, judgment, taste, strategy, and storytelling—the “human” creative/intellectual layer.

• Freelancer’s new opportunity:

  • “A solo designer… can now do the same work as a small agency, if not a big agency.” (Massimo, 18:39)
  • AI removes traditional bottlenecks (time, research, logistics between different roles).
  • Cost, speed, and quality are all up for grabs—but only for those who combine execution, AI literacy, and judgment.

• What AI Can & Can’t Do:

  • (22:59-24:14)
    • AI can: create variations, production, layouts, templates, first drafts.
    • AI can’t: provide taste, legitimate judgment, fine strategy, empathy, understand nuance, craft stories from real conversations, position brands, or convince clients.
    • “This is the list that makes designers valuable.” (Massimo, 24:14)

• Human judgment as the ultimate differentiator:

  • The “maestro” metaphor: the designer orchestrates, directs, curates—doesn’t do all the playing but makes the masterpiece.

4. Seven Ways Designers Can Future-Proof Themselves

• (26:27–32:20) Massimo’s actionable list:

  • 1. Know Good from Garbage:

    • “Become the designer who knows good from garbage… You need to be smart enough to know that what AI gives you is not always going to be great.” (Massimo, 27:02)
    • Never accept the AI’s first spit-out; rigor in curation is key.

  • 2. Master Decision-Making:

    • Don’t be the bottleneck; critical thinking is more important than ever.

  • 3. Build a Point of View:

    • “Build a point of view that customers can feel.” (Massimo, 29:06)
    • Not just for branding, but to confidently guide clients and AI alike.

  • 4. Become the Director, Not the Laborer:

    • “You need to be able to direct all the AI crap you’re getting, not just do it.” (Massimo, 29:23)

  • 5. Embrace AI as a Team, Not Competition:

    • Use AI as superpowers, not as the enemy; stop wasting time competing with it, and start collaborating.

  • 6. Explain Why Something Works:

    • “Learn to explain clearly why something works”—AI output alone never sells, you must provide rationale and story.

  • 7. Get Faster at Clarity, Not Just Execution:

    • “Become faster… at clarity, clarity, clarity gets to that answer sooner.” (Massimo, 31:53)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Prove to me what you can do, that AI can’t—let that sink in for a second.”
  (Massimo, 00:49)
• “Execution just becomes cheap. Judgment becomes expensive.”
  (Massimo recapping AI CEOs, 05:14)
• “Plumbers don’t just go in and connect pipes. They assess and solve the problem every single time. Skilled problem solvers thrive.”
  (Massimo, 08:15-08:37)
• “It’s not using AI as a tool per se. It’s about orchestrating results—being a maestro, not a competitor.”
  (Massimo, 13:00)
• “The human is shifting up in the value chain… AI does the work, humans are the directors.”
  (Massimo, 15:09)
• “A solo freelancer can now do the same work as a small agency, if not a big agency. That advantage is gone. AI removes the bottleneck.”
  (Massimo, 18:39)
• “If you’re not making decisions, if you don’t embrace critical thinking, you shouldn’t be playing in AI—plain and simple.”
  (Massimo, 28:19)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• AI’s accelerating impact on hiring and design: 00:00–03:34
• Major AI CEOs on disruption’s speed and meaning: 03:36–06:23
• The “good time to be a plumber” analogy: 07:15–10:15
• AI’s shift from execution to judgment: 10:15–13:00
• Agency vs. solo designer—new opportunities: 18:38–21:29
• What AI can/can’t do for designers: 22:59–24:14
• Seven steps to future-proof your design career: 26:27–32:22
• Final warning and challenge to listeners: 32:23–33:57

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Tone & Takeaway

Candid, urgent, and energizing—Massimo and John don’t sugarcoat the reality: Designers who ignore AI or rely solely on executional skills are on borrowed time. The tools, expectations, and opportunities have fundamentally changed. To thrive, you must move AI from rival to resource, focus your effort on judgment and vision, and continually sharpen your taste and decision-making.

Final words:
“AI can produce, but it still needs me to judge. Still needs me to fix that, because it doesn’t know what the hell it’s doing. Call out what’s wrong. Call out all the bs. That’s the designer that AI can’t replace.”
(Massimo, 33:20)

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Summary prepared for listeners who want the unvarnished roadmap for staying valuable as a designer in an AI-transformed world.

Transcript

[A]

You know what's really messing with me right now? It's not being ghosted by clients or having all my design decisions second guessed. I mean, that shit I've learned to deal with, it's that the smartest people leading the AI charge, people like Sam Altman and Elon Musk and Zuckerberg, the ones that are actually building the stuff, are saying, wait, this shit's happening way faster than we thought. I'm talking timelines are collapsing by years and jobs are disappearing and hiring rules, they're changing. And most designers, they have no freaking idea what's going on. They're still arguing about whether AI is good or bad for design. Meanwhile, interviews are literally using questions like, prove to me what you can do, that AI can't let that sink in for a second. Kind of scary, isn't it? In this episode of the Angry Designer podcast, powered by wix Studio, we're talking about what the people at the top are really saying about AI. What the future of the job markets are, how this translates to designers, and why ignoring it could be the worst mistake of your career. Because whether you're paying attention or not, it's already reshaping the design industry. So you might want to think about your next steps. Let's go.

[B]

Oh, the buffalo chase.

[A]

Yeah. You know, this feels like bourbon to me, but it is. The second time around. It feels a little sweeter.

[B]

Yeah, it's very sweet, but I have.

[A]

Been sneaking some and I'm enjoying it, I'm not going to lie.

[B]

Wait a minute, wasn't that full?

[A]

No, but you know, I have been sneaking quite a bit. It's good. I just, I miss it. Right? Yeah. Damn. You know why I've been sneaking some. Damn it. Why? Because I'm so stressed at that comment you made last week that totally blew my freaking mind. Right, guys, Seriously. I mean, you said this and it just like I was like, wow. Like, it literally blew my mind because it is such a relevant to topic and, and it was such a bold statement and I just, I saw a whole graphic designer's future based on this one thing you said, which is mind blowing.

[B]

And it completely makes sense now when you put it into, into this context. Break it down of what AI is.

[A]

Doing now before I actually get into this. You know what's coming. Anger Management for Designers. It's our newsletter. Sign up for it, guys. It's just a lot more of this just once a week and, and it's fun. And we're not going to try to sell you anything.

[B]

Okay?

[A]

Yeah. Needless to say, there's a shameless plug and a. I would have done smoother than I would have. But no, like, I mean, okay, so what you said was, it was a real interview question.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Okay. That a company used to, to its interview, whoever it's interviewing and it's prove to me why AI can't do this job and I'll hire you. And it blew up.

[B]

Is that. Dude, I know, right?

[A]

Because it's true. Well, because it's very true. And, and again, so then ever since you said that, I have been looking online, I've been watching the news, I've been listening to what these guys have. There's a lot of really crazy AI stuff happening right now, even more so than we would even expect. And, and so I, I, I have that in the back of my mind. Plus I'm watching all these and I'm like, I'm trying to pull it all together into this episode right here. So, and how this all applies to designers. Yeah. Because there is some pretty big hitters that have said some really influential stuff that is proving to be the case all over the world.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

Like, I mean it's affecting, yeah.

[B]

Amazon, how many jobs?

[A]

30,000 jobs, six months.

[B]

And that was in the middle. So you can bet that AI is probably going to be doing those jobs.

[A]

Dude, it was all white collar jobs. Marketing, accounting.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You know, nothing was hands on workers. That's the crazy thing. Right? So, so, you know, and not to mention, you know, Facebook or Meta has gone public saying, hey, don't hire anybody right now because in the near future you're not even going to need them. And it's like they're putting these warnings out, companies are pulling back. So it's crazy times right now. And so that's why I thought this would be great topic to, to actually just dig right into. We haven't done this in a little while. It's been a while, but this is really current shit. So interestingly enough, five AI CEOs, the five biggest AI CEOs, and we're talking Musk, Jensen, Zuckerberg, Altman and Mode. I can't even pronounce the guy's name, but he's the founder of Anthropic. Okay. These are people who want to put each other in a business more or less. They're cutthroat to one another. Their businesses are, are getting all this funding and literally it's to one up each other. Okay. But they all said basically the same thing. Okay, right now, which was kind of crazy. And that was that the timeline that they expected initially has collapsed. And what used to take what they were estimating was going to take them 10 years to achieve. Okay. Is now one to two years away. And that's the scary part because, you know, people thought that they had time. Yeah. But.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Not really. This shit's happening, you know, really, really, really quick. And they all emphasize more or less the exact same thing, and that is that with the advancement of AI, execution just becomes cheap. Okay. Plain and simple. But judgment becomes expensive. Okay? And that's right. And I mean, right there, you know where this episode's going.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Okay. And I mean, again, this is something level shit. We have been, you know, we've been pressing this and pushing this for such a long time that it's like you can't underestimate the value of what's actually in between our ears, not just what we're outputting from our hands and what's on screen. Right. And I mean, more so this actually isn't even about job interviews per se, even though that statement was about a job interview. This is about the future. That designers who maybe thought they had a little bit of time, they need to embrace this shit right now, big time. Seriously. Because it is changing so far. And, you know, you saw what logos were like when AI was doing it a year ago. They sucked.

[B]

They were terrible.

[A]

They were pretty fun to do. I'm seeing some crazy stuff out there right now. It leads to the point where it's like, wait, AI did that? It was well done. It was, it was creative. It was, you know, something that I could easily say a senior designer would do that. Definitely better than, than an average designer and definitely better than just somebody on Fiverr. Yeah. Exc. Soon Fiverr's probably going to be full of, you know, Fiverr generated, you know, logos like that based on Fiverr's AI. But I mean, so what I did is then, you know, with that thought with these guys, I've been looking all week and trying to get some high level statements And I found three really good statements from three of these CEOs. And I put them in the context on how they affect designers because I think this is really important. Okay. Because although they weren't necessarily talking about designers exactly. No, they're talking about the bigger picture.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Which designers can fall under.

[B]

This is true. Yeah. These are things that will, you know, it's AI, It's AI related.

[A]

Everything.

[B]

It's touching everything. Right?

[A]

Absolutely. Yes. Well. And okay, so funny thing. Okay, so Jensen Huang from Nvidia okay. CEO. And he says something. Okay. That I thought was hilarious, but it was so topical. Okay. He said, it's a good time to be a plumber.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So if that alone wouldn't make you, you know, like, literally want to vomit. You know, he went. He needs all over the place. Everybody's like, he.

[B]

And I mean, he's not wrong.

[A]

He's not necessarily saying everybody should go to the trades. Okay. Maybe there was, you know, some of that. Maybe that's how some people took it. That's not necessarily how I took it because I didn't actually think he meant it like literally, but I think he meant it more symbolically.

[B]

Yes. Like the knowledge base that, that a plumber would have in what he would bring to his.

[A]

Yes, right. And that's exactly it. Right. It's routine. Workers die. Yeah. Okay. Plain and simple. Okay. But skilled problem solvers thrive.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay. And. And he, he gave the reference of a plumber. Okay. But the thing is, plumbers don't just day after day, go in, connect the pipes, walk out different every day. Every single day. They say they have a skill.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. They're going in, they're assessing the problem. They're trying to. Every single. Okay, sure, two, two toilets could be plugged at the same time, but the reason why they're plugged and how you're going to fix it could become so many variables that it's like they have to assess everyone. They are problem solvers in every case.

[B]

And those are the jobs that will be replaced, is the unplugging the toilet jobs.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But if you're running lines in a brand new house or something like that, that's something that, you know, needs an expert.

[A]

Right. Expert level. And, and again, execution. It's. It's this whole, you know, idea, I think that it's like you have to think above and beyond just, you know, what is mindless work. Okay. And this will apply to designers. Yeah, because like we said, designers who are decorators who just rely on tools on a regular basis to do their work. And. Oh, I'm a designer. I know Photoshop, I'm a designer. I know Adobe, you know, or Canva, you know what I mean? These are the guys that their days are limited ahead because again, this is, you know, their quality of design, we'll say, for the most part, might be at the same level of what a customer can get themselves using AI. Okay. Designers who rely on thinking, you know, are really powerful. And then, you know, the ones who act like problem solvers, like we're constantly saying you do that for the. They're future proof. And that's the exact same analogy as the plumber. Yeah. Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

As long as if, if the plumber was going in mindless every single day doing the same job, sooner or later a robot's going to replace being replaced. Yeah, but they don't do that. And I think that's where he was going with this quote.

[B]

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. You want to be whatever field that you're in, you want to be the expert in it. And you, you what you, your. The knowledge that you bring to it is irreplaceable by.

[A]

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[B]

Yeah, totally. He's trying to see if it's part of your toolbox or not.

[A]

Exactly. And how well you can use it not just as a tool. Right. Because, again, it's not using AI as a tool per se. In this case, it's about orchestrating the results and what it gives you and being a maestro and being like, okay, now you've given me this, now you give me this. I'm going to put it together like this. It's. It's literally. It's not competing against it at all. Right? Yeah. And so this relates to designers, okay? Because a designer's value isn't in speed anymore. Speed is just the baseline. Okay. Whether you guys like to admit or not. Whether. And I know we cringe, okay? But now with all the tools that we have, okay, Whether you want to admit or not, a designer's output has sped up from 20 years ago, from 40 years ago, and now even more so, even the past couple years. How much faster? Photoshop is doing half the job for you now on so many tasks. Okay? Not to mention, you know, canva's got their own AI, Right? And this has nothing to do with just. So we have been progressively getting faster at what we do. That's just the baseline. Okay? So the value isn't what we do, but it's what we do with what AI actually gives us. That's going to be the value that we bring to the table. Okay? So again, you know, this is how. Just like what Altman's saying, how. How they're doing their interviews and what they're looking at for in people. They're looking for people who can manipulate AI, use it, use it to their advantage. Designers need to be doing that, and we need to learn how to do that, if we haven't already.

[B]

Big time. Yeah.

[A]

And Zuckerberg said something. Okay? So again, this. This has just been a great two weeks. That's why this is. It was scary, but it was meant to be. So he reinforced, okay? He was the one who said, hold off on hiring. He recommended all Companies hold off on hiring. Pretty shitty thing to say.

[B]

That is terrible.

[A]

You know, but where he was going with this, is he saying most of the meta code that is going to be written in the near future is going to be by AI agents. Okay, Agents. Yeah, AI agents and humans will become the directors of AI teams. That was his words. So it was really interesting. Right. Because again, what he's saying more or less is that the human is shifting up in the value chain where when it comes to direction, oversight, guiding and shaping. So he's recognizing, and he is so entrenched in this, but he's recognizing the value that humans bring to this mix. Right. He's not saying that AI will do it all, but he is saying that AI will replace a majority of that grunt work, that the execution work, the day to day stuff. And I mean, that's scary as hell, but again. So it really wasn't about code though, it was about hierarchy. And again, this is AI is the workers, humans are the directors. This is totally how we work and how we will work. Okay. Because again, at a higher level, that's what creative directors are.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Basically.

[A]

Right. I'm, I'm getting work from you and I'm like molding it. I'm correcting if there's anything to be corrected more. Brandon. I'll get it from Shannon, I'll get it from, you know, Talia and Maddie. I'll get it from everybody. Right. And again, I'm molding, guiding, making sure it's brand aligned. Right. We, we, we'll correct, we'll adjust if we need to. Right. We call it what doesn't work. We talk to the customer and understand what the customer needs. Right. But again, I'm not hands on doing it anymore. I'm kind of letting you guys do it.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And as a creative director, I'm molding the bigger picture.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Well, this is what designers will end up having to do with AI. Okay. Once we start embracing more AI and start embracing all the tools and every one of our employees back here is going to be doing in charge.

[B]

Charge of a team.

[A]

Yeah, essentially.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Right. AI will be able to generate it. Already is. But unquestionably in the near future, it'll be able to generate thousands of ideas in no time at all. Okay. But the designers are going to be the ones who decide which one of these ideas actually matter.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Which work which need direction. So nothing to do with code replacing people here, but he's talking about hierarchy and he's still saying we are above and will Be in charge of AI. Yeah. So the new competitive advantage the designers need to embrace. Okay. Is AI literacy, not AI avoidance. And I think that's. That's where a lot of designers are still not taking it seriously enough and embracing it fast enough, in my opinion, anyway.

[B]

Or afraid of it.

[A]

Yeah. To me. Yes.

[B]

Like crazy.

[A]

I think we already had those episodes. We better go check out some past ones.

[B]

We certainly have. Yeah.

[A]

So we heard what all five of these guys basically were saying, and in specific, what Zuckerberg was saying, what Altman was saying, what Jensen was saying. Okay. And how this matters to designers is designers, ultimately, who are going to just rely on their execution a little bit. Abilities. Yeah. We've already said they're replaceable.

[B]

That's done.

[A]

It's only a matter of time, if not already. Because if already AI can create a logo better than you, what value do you bring? Okay. Exactly. Designers who rely on thinking. Okay. Are untouchable. Okay? They're untouchable. They'll be able to work, they'll be able to get jobs, they'll be able to, you know, solve problems and probably, you know, do really well still in their careers. But designers who can combine both of these are freaking lethal. Yes. Okay. And this is the sweet spot that I really want all the designers to embrace, because the hard reality right now is if a designer embraces both of those sides. Okay. A solo designer. Okay. A solo freelancer.

[B]

By yourself, on your own. Yeah.

[A]

Can now do the same work as a small agency, if not a big agency. Right. Well, it's so true. There's so many advantages for this and for them. So if they have both halves of this, they all already can execute, so they know what they can do. What do big agencies bring? Okay. Big agencies have in house strategists. They have, you know, in house, I don't know, project managers. They have in house researchers. Right. They have all these others that for the longest time, you didn't have access to as a freelancer or a small shop. Right. You'd go online, you'd try to cobble together what you could, but you were always limited. They always had that advantage. Well, now it's like that advantage is like a bottleneck for agencies. Right? Yeah. Humor me here. Customer comes, and they're like, hey, I need brand strategy and a content plan, you know, and I need it in two weeks. Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So you give it to an agency. What do they do? Okay. Day one on board. Okay. Understand everything. Day two and three, then they. They research. You know, they start building out A strategy, Right. And they come up with, you know, ideas, and they brainstorm. Day four, maybe they all meet again. Okay. Collaborate, go through all the ideas. On day five, Then they'll do the revisions to everything. So they'll pitch the customer maybe by day six or seven.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Full week.

[A]

And that's. And that's pretty quick. That's fast. That's a small, nimble agency that could actually do that with all those people. But, I mean, the humans are the bottleneck, unfortunately. Right. They are doing that. And to do that, to employ that many people in that kind of environment, you're looking at what that would be like a 10, $20,000 job. Okay. A solo designer who can execute and who has great AI literacy could literally do all that work. Not just relying on AI, because they have to be involved in that process. They have to talk to the customer, sort out the real problems. That's them. That's not AI.

[B]

You have to do your research.

[A]

Then once you get that done, you can input and you work with AI to come up with some strategies, come up with. With some very. Now you're working with AI. Right. There's no bottleneck because they don't have to align schedules with anybody. They are in charge of all the decisions. They don't have to, you know, ask opinions and be sensitive and do all the political BS that a lot of times we have to do. Right. Then, you know, on day two, once they have all their information, they can execute. They can do their own revisions. They are ready in two days.

[B]

Two days.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Seven.

[A]

And okay, granted, you know, they might not get away with unless they had a really good brand behind them. I don't know if they could also charge the 20 grand, but you know that they can charge five, seven grand and get that same. And they're AI powered. Yeah, that's why.

[B]

So right off the bat, it's a cost saver there too, because huge.

[A]

Yeah, you're.

[B]

You're paying 10 people or whatever now, boom, you're doing this all yourself, which is amazing.

[A]

AI helps remove all the bottlenecks that are in place like that.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Agencies, you know, especially like agencies have to use all these people to help that because again, very rarely was there one person that could do all of that. Okay. And when we used to do that through Google searches and stuff, it would take days.

[B]

It would be forever. Yeah. So.

[A]

And again, so right now, the only bottleneck that's left, now that you have AI powering this, and you know, your human. You're human supporting this and your judgment. The only bottleneck is left is your final decisions, your taste, your judgment, you know, the decision making, and you are in charge of that. So this is what I'm saying. AI is just a huge game changer. It's going to change our space, the hierarchy, how we're going, who's going to compete with what. Right. Like, it's. It's a whole different world now. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Just like you say, keep saying speed is. Is the differentiator now.

[A]

Like, well, well, yeah, it's just a baseline.

[B]

It's. Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah. You can't. You couldn't. You couldn't take 10 days to do all that.

[A]

No.

[B]

Now.

[A]

No, no, because clients would know better. This is why clients will bring you these ideas, because if you tell them it's going to take you that long, they'll be like, how much?

[B]

I'll do it myself.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. So. So there is a whole hierarchy of design value then, based on all this. Okay. And again, this was our two lists here, Sean. What I can do and what I can't do.

[B]

This is.

[A]

Okay. And in all fairness, people need to realize what I actually can do are things like variations. Create stuff. Production is coming down. You know, layouts, mood boards, copy tweaks, copy creating, you know, style mimicking styles. Okay. Creating templates, first drafts, even, of virtually anything. This is all what AI can already do. Yeah. Okay. And it's only going to get better at this.

[B]

Yes, yes.

[A]

The thing is, what it can't do, right. It can't really do taste. Well. Okay. It can't. It can't provide, you know, legitimate judgment strategy. Right. Understanding the nuances. You know, it. It can't really extract the story out of talking to a customer. It can give variations, but, man, they're so bad with it. Right. Defining the real problem. It can't, because it can't put together those data points. It doesn't have any sort of empathy that it can put towards the situations, let alone positioning, brand thinking, and ultimately convincing the customer. So these are two very different lists. And I don't know if AI will ever be able to do this list. And this is the list that makes designers valuable.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Right again, AI totally creates a million different possibilities for us. Yeah.

[B]

And your job is to pick through that and.

[A]

And.

[B]

And kind of find the meaning. Yes. And get the. The. To. To use your big brain.

[A]

Right.

[B]

On. On the final solution.

[A]

And it is that idea. And I hate overusing that. That. That idea, but it's like the maestro of the orchestra you're right.

[B]

You're absolutely right. Yes. Yeah.

[A]

It's just, you know, you can orchestrate all this stuff that's coming in and you can. Yeah, man. Like my proposal process is just so.

[B]

Changed now so much.

[A]

My strategies, you know, my planning, everything has changed. And I'm happy to say that our small agency here now, you know, we, we do more work than agencies three times our size. So you know, it's ridiculous. But again, it's still not because we're not relying on AI. We are, you know, using AI to do a lot of the grunt work.

[B]

We are.

[A]

Yeah. Happily I will happily, you know, use AI for that because everybody was miserable doing that stuff.

[B]

Well, this is the thing is like I, we had an example earlier. Yeah. Of one of our clients have all these customers all across the US and they wanted an indicator on the states where they were. Where they were. And it's like I, I fed this into chat. It was it. He fought with me a little bit, of course, but I got the outline and it didn't look very good. So obviously I had to kind of of recreated.

[A]

How many customers did you have?

[B]

1400.

[A]

1400.

[B]

So what I would have had to have done in the old days.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Would be get a map.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And source.

[A]

Or Google, even Google Map, but still source.

[B]

Where.

[A]

One at a time. I know.

[B]

One at a time. Yes.

[A]

Now I'm sure there's guys out there like, well, you know, if you put it in a spreadsheet.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Maybe that's not the world that we live in, but yeah, I'm sure could be done.

[B]

Yeah. I'm old school.

[A]

But, but I mean, right.

[B]

In that, you know, something that would have taken a week or two weeks.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Was down to a day.

[A]

Perfect example. And I mean there just countless examples of this over and over and over again. Dude, you know, I, again, you never. You don't have to sell me.

[B]

Yeah, I'm, I'm on board too.

[A]

But I got to put you guys on this, right?

[B]

You guys got to do it.

[A]

Come on. So, okay. So all said and done.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I've come up with seven things to do to position yourself for the future. Okay. Because again, like it or not, it's an AI enabled future. Okay? So embrace this shit. So seven things. Number one, become the designer who knows good from garbage. God, honestly, I mean there's so much stuff that I'm getting from AI is Gar. And the fun, the ironic thing is the later the models are like, you know, chat 5.2. They say it's the smartest one.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I hate it.

[B]

Oh, really?

[A]

Oh, my God. It's almost too smart for its own good. Can't work with me to get the ideas. It never gets anything right. I'm changing my.

[B]

Yeah. There's a lot of. There's a lot more finagling with it.

[A]

You need to be smart enough to know that what AI gives you. Yeah. Is not always going to be great.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Right. And that's why oftentimes it's. That's garbage. Yeah. And so you need to be able to understand what's good and what's garbage. Okay.

[B]

If you're taking the first thing right off the, right out of the, out of the hopper.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Don't. Because it's never ever good. It's never. The first thing is always the worst.

[A]

I wish, I wish somebody would tell that to our customers.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Always sending through this first shitty thing.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. All right, Number two, okay. You need to master decision making. Okay. So again, none of this asking the customer what do they think? How do you feel asking other people, you know, their impression of this. You need to be able to make decisions. Okay. Otherwise you're the bottleneck. Yeah. Okay. And again, that's what AI AI is going to give you. Two options, three options, five options. You need to make a decision on which, which option to take, which direction to go, which path are you going to take? Right. And again, you can't do that, you know, if you're not making decisions and if you don't embrace critical thinking, well, you shouldn't be playing in AI plain and simple. Otherwise it's gonna turn you into a monster.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Number three, okay. Build a point of view that customers can feel. Okay. Now this might be leaning a little bit towards, you know, when it comes to building your own personal brand. Okay. But it makes the process so much easier. Customers know what they're getting when they work with Zed Factor. They know what they're getting when they're working with me. When they're working with you. Okay. We're not going to sell them fluff. We're not going to give them, you know, ads that are just so high level, fruity, you know, they know they're not getting that. They're getting hard hitting, direct messaging, no bs, Right. Very bold. Right. That's. They know what they're getting. Right. Because it's our point of view.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Okay. If you don't have a point of view to use, okay. They won't have any idea what they to like what not to. Like you're not going to even know what to give and what, what path to. To. To lead AI in the first place. So again, you need to build a point of view that customers can feel and notice and actually, you know, choose you for.

[B]

Yes. Yes.

[A]

All right, number four. Okay, we talked about this before earlier on, but become the director, not the laborer. Okay? This is so critical in the future for AI. And again, this is when a one person shop can do the same work as a 10 person agency, a 20 person agency, but you need to be able to direct all the AI crap that's actually, you're getting, you're pulling together. So again, become the director, not the laborer. Okay, Number five, embrace AI as your team, not as the enemy. Oh, right, Nice. Too often people think that they have to compete with AI, but there's no competition. No AI has its place and God knows what it can do, you know, and how fast it can do. There's no competition. It'll squash us on this list of things. Yes, we can squash it on the other things. It's like only hiring people that are, are worse than you. Okay? That'd be the worst thing. That's the worst business decision you could do, right? And that's exactly it. Well, here you've got the power. You literally have the power of every creative agency in the world with you. So utilize it as every other agency now working for you. Don't compete against this freaking thing. Yeah, smart, smart. Number six, learn to explain clearly why something works. Oh, okay. So again, just because you will be presenting ideas that might come from AI, okay, may have started from AI, maybe even are generated through AI, it doesn't mean that the client won't sign off on them. Okay? Or, or agree with it. If you can explain the reasoning behind it and why it actually works, right? If you're just like, holy shit, you know, your, your theme is, I don't know, barking dogs. And look, I've got. I created 20,000 barking dogs all standing on a whatever. Yeah, that's a really bad analogy. But if you can't actually give a good reason why this visual that was created from you, other than it looks really cool, the client will never buy into this shit, ever. Yeah, that was a really bad analogy. I apologize, guys. But we all know if there's one thing for sure is I suck at analogies. They sound good in my head, but they don't come out of my mouth very well. And last but not least, okay, become faster. Not at execution, but at Clarity, clarity, clarity gets to that answer sooner.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Using AI. Okay, don't. Don't just spit out more ads quicker, but, you know, there's so much more value you can bring, and that is to clarify what the strategy is, what the problem is, what the answer is. And then how you're going to deliver is like a snap. Yeah, okay. That's how AI use. Okay. The window is closing really quick. And based on what these guys are saying, like, this shit's happening so fast. And they weren't. They. They even sound shocked at how fast this stuff.

[B]

Ten years, down to one or two.

[A]

Scary.

[B]

What else moves like that? Right?

[A]

Well, what I want to know is, like, how much faster could. Like, how much better could we get?

[B]

What's going to happen in five years from now?

[A]

Jeez, I don't even know. The designers that are, you know, not going to take this leap in the next few, you know, honestly, I say within the next year are going to be falling so fast behind that it's going to be, you know, impossible for them to catch up. Like, I'm thinking one to two years tops. And if you can't start changing the way you think, changing the way you work, you know, the value that you used to bring as a designer, clients won't need anymore. They just won't need, plain and simple.

[B]

Then you'll be getting asked at interviews.

[A]

What can you do?

[B]

Right?

[A]

So if you do this right in an interview, they're like, prove to me what? What? What? Why AI can't do this job. Your answer should actually be, yeah, yeah, AI can produce, but it still needs me to judge.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Still needs me to fix that, because it doesn't know what the hell it's doing. Call out what's wrong. Call out all the bs, right? That's the designer that AI can't replace. That's right. Okay. And that's maybe in a nicer way, the answer that you should give in that interview. Because that is what we bring to the table. Yeah. So, you know, if you don't fight it and if you embrace it and superpower yourself with this, it will turn you into a designer that's got another 20 years to go. Yeah, exactly. If you have any questions, please reach out. We'll do our best to reach, you know, to hit you back. But this is really important stuff that I think everybody really needs to hear and take advantage of.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Cool. Yeah. My name is Massimo.

[B]

My name is John.

[A]

Stay creative and stay angry.

[B]

Jam.

[A]

Sam, Sa.

[B]

Sam.