AI Image Generation is Great: Proceed with Caution

Can generative AI be a powerful asset for illustrating your marketing communications while simultaneously requiring caution? Yes. Both can be true at once.

Creating AI images can be a lot of fun. With a few prompts, anyone can generate a spectacular image of a dog wearing sunglasses and riding a skateboard through the sky. But marketing images that match specific criteria? That comes with challenges.

·       The woman with a book propped up on the desk is looking slightly in the wrong direction.

·       The billboard outside the office window is written in gobbledygook instead of type.

·       If you look closely, that Mac has the design elements of a PC.

Today's AI has become sufficiently advanced that the issues are generally subtle, but today's audiences have also been trained to recognize them.

Should You Use AI for Images or Not?

So, should you use AI-created images, or shouldn't you? Before answering, ask yourself these questions:  

1. Why are you using AI in the first place?  Is it just to save costs? If so, you may find that creating AI images costs more time and frustration than finding one on a stock image site.

2. What's your skill level? Creating AI prompts takes skill. The likelihood of you getting it right on the first (or even second) try is minimal. The more skill you have, the faster it will go. However, even then, more complicated images can take some time.   

3. How much time can you invest? Even for more experienced creators, getting an image right can take time—far longer than it takes to find one on a stock image site. If it takes you an hour to adjust the prompts, regenerate the image, then adjust and regenerate again (and again and again), have you saved anything?

This is not to say that if you never create another AI image again, you'll be safe from criticism. Increasingly, stock agencies are utilizing AI to make their images as well. Additionally, some people may raise concerns about images appearing too much like AI, even when they were not created using AI.

Anyone can create an AI image, but it's not a plug-and-play process. It requires judgment and skill. Specific AI programs work better than others, so practice using different programs and test their functionalities to determine which ones are most effective for your needs. If you have a question about whether an image is appropriate, listen to your gut: reconsider.

AI is a great tool. Proceed with caution.