Can Artificial Intelligence Be Creative?

In 1984, a new era of creativity opened up for designers when the first PageMaker graphic software, designed by Aldus, became available on the all-new Apple Macintosh computer. Digital creative tools gave rise to the emergence of digital aesthetics in the arts of illustration, photography, moving pictures, etc.

The technologies presented in this article open a new chapter on design: their intelligent systems will replace human designers. So, can artificial intelligence be creative?

In recent years, new intelligent website design software products have been developed. These are capable of analyzing customers’ business sectors, texts, media (photos, animations, videos, etc.) and their expectations in order to propose relevant website designs.

The neural networks built into these programs are able to recognize and analyze textual and visual content. In fact, the types of software that can design a website understand how to develop the graphic composition of a page and structure the content using a specific hierarchy.

Smart Platforms

This is the case with The Grid, one of the first intelligent website design platforms. Simply download the content and specify the type of website to be designed (showcase website, blog or other), the function (professional, playful, etc.) and voilà: clients get structure that adapts to their needs by adding new content at any time. The Grid design platform adapts to all types of computers, smart phones, tablets, etc. In addition, customers can follow the work done by the intelligent system during the website construction.

The Grid platform’s intelligent system is a neural network called Molly. According to Dan Tochini, The Grid founder, Molly can create 200,000 unique designs from a palette of five colours.

However, according to Reddit social network users, The Grid has some weaknesses: generated sites are difficult or even impossible to customize, and are expensive. In addition, the demo software is very similar to WordPress, Squarespace and Weebly content management systems, most of which no longer use programming code.

As for the Wix Intelligent Platform, it uses the Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) neural network. Firedro, meanwhile, has a virtual assistant guiding customers with their website design. This assistant asks questions and offers solutions. According to Marc Crouch, CEO of Firedro, customers using this platform doesn’t need a professional web designer.

With intelligent platforms, small businesses can easily create their own website.

Design Software

In the near future, design software manufacturers will also incorporate artificial intelligence into the layout tools and applications used to create print products.

Adobe, for example, uses the Adobe Sensei neural network that works with Adobe software and tools. This tool uses facial recognition to allow users to select and edit human faces on photos. Currently, Adobe Sensei is integrated with the Face-Aware Liquify Adobe Creative Cloud and Photoshop Fix software.

Conclusion

According to experts, artificial intelligence will revolutionize the work of design departments by partially replacing human creators. Admittedly, intelligent platforms cannot yet pass judgment on the aesthetics of a site even if they are capable of reproducing compositions and site structures. Therefore, deciding on the artistic and ergonomic value of visual effects still remains the domain of human beings. But for how long?