May 26, 2023 Thoughts on Using Adobe Firefly

We recently held a seminar on Web Design Trends in 2023 (in Japanese), where, in the feedback survey, one of our participating clients mentioned ChatGPT as a desired future seminar topic. Well, as mentioned in one of our recent columns - "Generative AI as an Opportunity, Not a Threat" - a number of our colleagues, regardless of their work responsibilities, are now working on generative AI themes.

Personally, I’m particularly interested in image generation AI and am presently experimenting with a beta version of Adobe Firefly. So, while the AI cannot be used for commercial purposes, some features can be trialed. While I’m not going to comment on the particulars of the service, I was amazed that images can be created through simply entering written prompts - it seems that the threshold for creating visual content has been significantly lowered. Based on this, I believe that the emergence of generative AI will increasingly change the way we create designs and communicate.

In the web development industry, with the adoption of common design tools as well as use of online meeting services, an environment is now in place where designers and their clients can modify designs in real-time through screen sharing. With the addition of image generation AI, it will be possible, for example, to experiment with various prompts to create visuals alongside clients – some readers may already be working on this. I believe this will transform the current creator-led design scope and inspire different forms of collaboration - such as clients utilizing generative AI to communicate their design requests.

Additionally, the new ability to easily devise images will likely change what is required of designers. For example, while an image itself may appear to be of high quality, depending on the purpose and content of the image, there are numerous aspects that will still need to be considered. These include whether the size of elements is appropriately balanced, whether situations are realistic and credible, and so on. Therefore, verification of image content will likely remain an important role for designers. However, going forward, as the continued technological evolution of AI may enable resolution of these issues with high degrees of accuracy, designers of the future may be increasingly required to further refine their senses to determine what is "optimal" for website viewers.