Will Artificial Intelligence (AI) Replace Web Developers/Designers, Business Consultants, and Graphic Designers?
Use Ai as a tool without fear to create a better world for all
I have been a frontend developer/designer and writer for well over 25 years, and am proud to say that I have created interfaces and complete websites that were not only unique but useful and accessible to people with disabilities. I have worked with and on websites that were used by public libraries, the US Postal Service, and Intel.
More recently, I have become increasingly interested in the future of artificial intelligence and its uses in the web development, business planning, and content creation industries.
As Ai gets trained on larger and better language models, like GPT-4 and Google Sparrow, we are going to see better tools released in an already crowded industry of people competing for the best chatbots, image generators, website builders, copywriting tools, and idea brainstormers.
There are literally hundreds of ways a start-up or business can go on the web and create an entire business, from planning, logo design, and website creation, to generating product ideas and creating an MVP (minimum viable product) in minutes.
For most people, this may be a cause for concern, because this could potentially mean that thousands, if not millions of jobs will be replaced by computers.
But many of us tend to look at it another way.
What if, instead of being frightened - web developers, business consultants, and graphic designers - use Ai as the tool that it is and leverage it to use the skills we already have and become consultants who use Ai for the dirty work of coding, designing, and writing copy? What if we become initiators and implementors and use all these Ai tools to do the heavy lifting while we act as guides for the confused masses?
We already have the expertise, which can be leveraged to specify to an Ai exactly what to create for our clients. What if we generated business ideas for people who have a raw inkling of the kind of business they want to start? What if we then created a business plan for them, logo and brand, business name, and website including all the code, which we set up on a host we own, generate a list of requirements needed to form a corporation in their locale, help them find venture capital, employees, and even do their taxes?
All this can be done with artificial intelligence if we guided the process, knowing what we know, and having the experience to direct them using the right tools at the right time.
Experts could niche down and focus on just one part – web designers create websites using Ai and deliver a package including coding, graphics, copy, and hosting. What if business consultants set up the business, created the plans, arrange the accounting, and did the taxes? What if writers could spend their time writing a book for themselves, and make money using Ai to create blog posts for businesses?
Imagine being excited every time a new Ai tool was released, because it meant a way for you to do your jobs as a consultant better, instead of dreading the news because you feel people will be losing their jobs by the thousands.
Enterprising people will start to see that the future is not a 9-5 with a FAANG company where you go sit at a desk and waste your life away making the corporation rich. What if we were all entrepreneurs and used Ai to do the work, while we directed the traffic?
Artificial intelligence doesn’t have to scare people into hoarding cornmeal and ammo in bunkers under their houses, in fear of Skynet sending out a robot army of terminators to kill off the population.
Many of us see Ai as the tool that it is and will keep finding ways for it to benefit mankind, and replace an old and outdated way of working and feeding the beast that is capitalism. Imagine an industry where the real work is done by machines, and humans can spend a few hours a day making the money they need to survive. Then we can pursue things like art, music, and philanthropy, making society a better place to live, and this planet habitable again without fear of losing our futures to extreme climate change.
Let’s start looking to computers to help instead of harm and control our egos and entitlement. Let’s start looking to a future where humans and machines work together to secure a better future for all, and we can start doing this by embracing Ai as a tool now.
Don’t give in to fear. Ai is a tool. Let’s start using it.