I’ve been using AI tools in my actual work since early 2023. On real client projects, every week. So I’ve got a pretty good feel for what it actually does and doesn’t do.
Most of what you read about AI and creative work is either someone who thinks it’s going to save the world or someone who thinks it’s going to end it. Neither reflects what it’s actually like day to day. So here’s the version from someone who’s just been using it.
What’s actually changed
Depends on the task honestly.
Some things are faster. Some take the same amount of time. Some take longer. But the quality of what I can produce has gone up across the board.
AI image generation for example. It’s not a one shot deal. You generate something, look at it, tweak the prompt, generate again. Keep going until what’s on screen matches what was in your head. That takes time. Different kind of time than before, but still time.
Same with layouts. Some software generates one in seconds. But I didn’t make it, so I need to go through it, figure out what it did, then shape it into something that’s actually right for the project. The generation is fast. Everything around it isn’t.
Ideas come faster too. The blank page used to be the hardest part. Now I’ve got something to work with straight away, something to pull apart and rebuild. But getting from that starting point to something finished still takes the time it takes.
What I find interesting is that some things take exactly the same time as they always did, but what I end up with is so much better. Same hours, better result.
And sometimes the old way is still the better way. Not everything needs AI in the mix and knowing when that is, is part of the job.
The other thing worth saying: I’ve spent years building fast ways of working. Systems, templates, shortcuts. That speed is a big part of why clients come back. AI doesn’t replace any of that. It just adds to it.
What hasn’t changed
The thinking.
AI can’t figure out what a brand should stand for. It can’t find the idea that makes a campaign worth running. It can’t sit in a client meeting and work out which bit of feedback actually matters. It can’t make the calls that make a brand look distinctive instead of just decent.
That still needs a real person with real experience and an actual point of view.
So what’s shifted is where I spend my time. Less on the mechanical production stuff, more on thinking and refining. Which is where the value always was anyway.
What it means for our clients
Better work. More options, more iterations, more refinement, same project cost.
We’re not dropping our prices because some things got quicker. What you get is more for the same investment.
The thing to watch out for is AI being used without any real experience behind it. Producing average marketing content now costs almost nothing. Which means there’s going to be a flood of it. The brands that put real thinking behind their work are going to stand out more because of that, not less.
AI is a tool. A genuinely good one.
But someone still has to know how to use it.