Designers should not fear being replaced by AI, industry leaders say

Professional designers should not feel “threatened” by the rapid growth of generative AI, according to business leaders, despite fears over job losses in the sector. With design and film production companies and manufacturers all adopting AI at an accelerating pace, industry bodies said the technology would be used to enhance the work of designers rather than replace them. Mat Hunter, the chief executive of the Design Council – a charity which champions the industry – said that while AI was increasingly being used by designers, “they are using it to add value”.

He said: “We are aware that technology always displaces people with new ways of working. However, we believe in the imagination and inventiveness of designers to find opportunities. We believe the UK needs more professional designers, so overall employment should continue to grow.” Deborah Dawton, chief executive of the Design Business Council, said: “What protects great designers from AI is skill, experience, empathy and deep understanding of the sectors they operate in.

So, no, [workers] shouldn’t feel threatened if they operate at this level.” Earlier this year research, conducted by The King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the Policy Institute, showed 57% of the public think AI will lead to widespread unemployment. Last week, freelancers including designers told the Guardian they were picking up “soulless” work correcting AI errors. The Design Council said on Monday that its analysis showed the sector – which covers everything from the design of household products and fashion to building and transport design – had grown by 40% between 2019 and the end of 2023, beating the economy’s 23% average rate of expansion and leapfrogging the size of the retail industry.

Research funded by the council for its triennial overview – Design Economy 2026 – showed that sectors like construction, services and manufacturing support 2.27m design jobs, and that there has been a 15% increase in employment between 2020 and 2025. While the figures estimating the size of the industry pre-date the arrival of dominant AI tools including ChatGPT and Claude, the employment figures to the end of last year indicate that their use has done little so far to affect the demand for workers with design skills. Hunter said design was often considered to be an add-on or nice-to-have, but was essential to industries from advanced manufacturing to digital services.

He added that the government’s consolidation of hundreds of public sector websites into one consistent design was an example of improvements in a service that can be supported by designers. Dawton said AI was being used as a substitute for the work done by human designers, but “rip-offs have been happening for a very long time – AI hasn’t enabled that”. The industry went through a similar transition when companies began using computer-aided design software, displacing draughtspeople, but Dawton said modern workers could find jobs elsewhere in the industry as it expands.

She added: “The key thing to remember is that these copycats look the same but they aren’t the same. The materials, finishes, methods of manufacture, assembly, colour, etc, mean that they are very different products.” Over the longer term, she said: “We have to adapt to any technological change that takes place around us. The difference with the design industry is that large chunks of it drive that change.