Psychology Research, August 2024, Vol. 14, No.

8, 259-267
doi:10.17265/2159-5542/2024.08.002
D DAVID PUBLISHING

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Graphic

Design Job Market: An Analysis of the Evolution and
Opportunities of the Designer Role

Linlu Cai
Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea
Euitay Jung
Hanyang University ERICA, Ansan, South Korea

With the rapid development of digitalization and intelligence, the widespread application of artificial intelligence (AI)
technology is reshaping all walks of life, especially in the field of graphic design. AI’s advances in graphic design,
image processing, and content generation have revolutionized the way designers work and think. Designers are no
longer just creative executors, but innovators who work with AI tools. AI technology improves design efficiency by
automating repetitive tasks, allowing designers to devote more energy to creative and strategic aspects. In this new
environment, designers’ skills and work content are also evolving to adapt to the changes brought about by technology.
Traditional design processes are being broken, and designers need to quickly generate multiple designs in a short
period of time to meet the needs of customers and the market. This transformation is not just an update of tools, but
an innovation of the entire design thinking and practice pattern, requiring designers to re-examine their creativity and
professionalism.

Keywords: artificial intelligence (AI), creative generation, design efficiency

Introduction
Research Background and Objectives
Research background. With the maturity of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, its application in
graphic design has gradually increased, especially in the fields of generating design plans, automated image
processing, and intelligent recommendation. Tools such as Midjourney, Canva, and Adobe Sensei automatically
generate designs based on user input, improving design accessibility. This makes it easy for even non-
professional designers to produce high-quality designs, reducing design thresholds and costs. However, the role
of traditional designers is also challenging, with many technical tasks being replaced by AI, and designers must
redefine their functions with a focus on creative thinking and user experience. At the same time, designers also
need to constantly learn new technologies to stay competitive in a competitive market. Designers in the industry
need the ability to work with AI, not only to understand design principles, but also to be able to optimize designs
using data analysis and user feedback. These changes have led the graphic design industry to seek a new balance

Linlu Cai, Ph.D. Student, College of Design, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea.
Euitay Jung, Ph.D., Professor, College of Design, Hanyang University ERICA, Ansan, South Korea.
260 THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE GRAPHIC DESIGN JOB MARKET

between technology and the humanities, prompting designers to constantly rethink and adjust their professional
positioning.
Research objectives. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of AI on the graphic design
job market, focusing on the transformation and opportunities of designer roles. The research will analyze
how AI affects traditional design jobs, what new skills designers need to master, and the impact of AI
technology on design career prospects. As AI technology continues to evolve, so too is the content of
designers’ work, which requires them to improve in many ways, including creativity, technical ability, and
user understanding. It will also examine ethical issues brought about by AI, such as copyright and originality,
to ensure that designers can safeguard their creative rights and work ethic in the new technological
environment. This research will provide important theoretical foundations and practical guidance for graphic
designers in their future careers to help them better meet the challenges and opportunities posed by AI and
thus remain invincible in an ever-changing industry. Through in-depth analysis of these issues, the research
will provide valuable insights into design education and industry practice, driving continued growth in the
field of graphic design.
Application of Artificial Intelligence in Graphic Design
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the graphic design industry at a rapid pace, penetrating many key
areas such as creative generation, image processing, typography optimization, and user experience analysis. The
application of AI technology not only brings unprecedented convenience to designers, but also revolutionizes the
role of designers and redefines all aspects of the design process. As AI technologies mature further, the design
industry is facing unprecedented transformation, and designers need to constantly adapt to this change in order
to remain competitive in the design ecosystem of the future.
First, AI provides designers with entirely new ideas and tools for creative generation. Traditional design
ideas often take a long time to conceive, experiment, and adjust, and designers experiment with all possible visual
effects through constant brainstorming. Now, by using AI tools such as Midjourney, DALL-E, etc., designers
can simply enter some keywords or descriptions, and AI can automatically generate a series of creative visual
solutions based on this information. This process not only reduces the time to generate ideas, but also provides
designers with a wealth of choice, allowing them to explore designs in different styles and directions more quickly,
which in turn inspires more inspiration. Designers can tweak and optimize AI-generated drafts to more quickly
identify the core concepts of the design. This new creative generation model greatly improves design efficiency
and gives designers more flexibility in the face of urgent projects.
Moreover, the application of AI in image processing has greatly reduced the burden on designers on
technical operations. The AI function in image editing software can automatically recognize and intelligently
process elements in images through computer vision technology and machine learning algorithms. For example,
AI can quickly remove the background of the picture, optimize the color matching, and even intelligently adjust
the light and contrast of the image according to the context. This allows designers to eliminate the need to
manually process every detail and devote more energy to the idea and expression of the design concept. Especially
for large projects or scenes that need to handle a lot of material, AI’s automated processing capabilities are
especially important. Designers can use AI tools to quickly complete cumbersome image trimming tasks, thus
focusing on creative and strategic tasks (Figure 1).
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Figure 1. How AI integrates with the designer’s workflow.

The application of AI in user experience analysis can also not be ignored. Modern design is increasingly
emphasizing the importance of user experience, and AI is able to provide designers with valuable feedback
through analysis of large amounts of user data. By analyzing the user’s click behavior, stay time, scrolling patterns,
and other data, AI can identify user preferences and habits and help designers optimize interface design. For
example, AI may find that users stay in an area longer or react more positively to a color, and designers can adjust
accordingly based on this data. This data-driven design approach makes design decisions more scientific and
precise, reducing the subjectivity of designers to make decisions based on personal experience and intuition. By
combining the results of AI’s data analysis, designers can not only improve the effectiveness of the design, but
also more closely meet the needs of users and create works that meet market trends and user expectations.
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Graphic Designer Career
Despite the many conveniences and technological innovations AI brings to graphic design, its impact on the
designer’s career is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, AI automation technology can handle a large number
of repetitive, technical tasks, such as basic image correction, typography adjustment, etc., allowing designers to
focus their time and energy on more creative parts. On the other hand, the application of AI has also triggered a
transformation of the designer role. Junior designers or interns used to work mainly in technical operations, and
the need for junior design positions may decrease as AI is able to handle these tasks quickly. Designers need to
shift to higher-order jobs, such as creative ideas, user experience design, and brand strategic planning.
This change requires designers to continually improve their abilities, especially in terms of mastery of new
technologies and interdisciplinary comprehensive literacy. Designers today not only need to be proficient in
traditional design tools, but also familiar with the use of AI software, and even master a certain level of data
analysis and programming skills. For example, when designing a website or app, designers need to understand
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how to optimize user interface and interaction design using data analytics provided by AI. Designers should also
learn how to develop design solutions that take into account creativity and technology with the help of AI. This
emerging skill requirement not only raises career barriers for designers, but also motivates them to continue to
learn and progress in order to adapt to changing technologies.
The work of traditional designers often relies on individual creativity, experience, and skill, and the creative
process is time-consuming and involves a large number of manual drawings, adjustments, and optimizations.
Designers need to constantly experiment and adjust to achieve the desired results, which requires a solid design
foundation and sensitivity to detail. By contrast, AI supports the work of designers to greatly improve efficiency.
With AI tools such as Midjourney and Adobe Sensei, designers can quickly generate designs and perform
intelligent image processing. This allows designers to devote more energy to creative ideas and strategic planning
without having to dwell too much on technical details (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Comparison of traditional design skills and AI-enhanced skills.

In addition, the application of AI has led to a shift in the role of designers. Designers are no longer just
executors, but creative guides and decision makers who need to work with AI tools to achieve deeper design
innovation and effectiveness. This transformation not only improves the efficiency of design, but also promotes
professional development of designers at the creative and strategic levels. However, with the increasing number
of AI-generated design works, questions about copyright and originality are emerging in the industry. Designers
must understand how to use generated content legally when using AI tools and ensure that their creative rights
are protected. Furthermore, whether AI-generated works should be protected by the same copyright as works
created by humans is a question that has yet to be clarified. While relying on AI tools, designers also need to
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remain sensitive to these issues to ensure professional ethics and legal awareness in the design industry of the
future. Overall, AI is transforming the graphic design industry at a rapid pace, with the role of designers, skill
needs, and career paths undergoing profound transformation. AI brings not only technological innovation, but
also a redefinition of the nature of the designer’s profession. Designers need to proactively embrace these changes
and adapt to the new opportunities and challenges presented by AI technologies. In the design ecosystem of the
future, creativity, user-oriented thinking, and the flexible use of AI technology will be the key to designers
standing out in a competitive market. Designers should constantly improve their professionalism and work
closely with AI technology to maintain their edge in this emerging design era.
How Designers Should Adapt to the Challenges and Opportunities of the Artificial Intelligence Era
In today’s rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) technology, graphic designers must take proactive
steps to adapt to the changes brought about by the technology while seizing the opportunities that lie ahead.
Designers not only need to adjust their way of working, but also need to re-examine the direction of career
development from a longer-term perspective. The contrast between traditional designer work and AI-enabled
designer work Figure 3. The following is a detailed discussion of how designers can meet the challenges and
opportunities of the AI era in terms of technological capabilities, knowledge expansion, data analysis, innovation
and creativity enhancement.

Figure 3. Comparison of traditional design skills and new skills required in the AI era.

Improve technical capabilities and master AI tools. Faced with the power of AI, designers should first
start from the technical level and master a variety of AI tools that can assist in design. These tools include
Midjourney, Canva, Adobe Sensei, and others, which can automatically generate design drafts, optimize images,
and even automate typography and color matching. For example, Canva is an online design tool that integrates
AI technology, allowing users to easily create designs by simply selecting design templates, while Adobe Sensei
uses deep learning to help designers perform intelligent image processing and save a lot of repetitive labor. By
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mastering these tools, designers can significantly improve design efficiency, especially in urgent projects, and
spend more time on creative design than on basic execution. In addition to mastering these existing tools,
designers should remain sensitive to technological advances and keep up-to-date with the tools and software they
use. AI technology is developing rapidly, new tools are emerging, and designers need to get started quickly and
skillfully in a short period of time, which requires them to have strong technical learning skills. By constantly
learning new AI tools and technologies, designers are able to stay at the forefront of technology and avoid being
outmoded by the times.
Expand your knowledge base and keep up with industry trends. The rapid development of AI technology
has accelerated the pace of change in the design industry, and designers must expand their knowledge to
understand the latest design trends, technology trends, and changes in user needs. Design is no longer just an
expression of creativity, but a new field combining technology and data. Designers need to continually enrich
their expertise and skills by attending industry conferences, seminars, online learning courses, and more. Participating
in these activities not only enhances individual capabilities, but also broadens horizons, shares experiences, and
draws design inspiration through interaction with peers. In addition, designers should learn about other relevant
fields, especially basic concepts in the field of data science and technology. Design in the AI era is no longer just
about personal aesthetic judgment and experience, and data has become an important part of design decisions. If
designers are familiar with data analysis, user behavior research, and other fields, they can better use the intelligent
analysis results provided by AI to make more scientific design decisions. For example, in user interface (UI) and
user experience (UX) design, designers use AI tools to obtain user behavior data on an application or website,
analyze user click paths, stay times, etc., and optimize interface layout and function settings. This data-based
design approach not only better meets user needs, but also effectively enhances user satisfaction and experience.
Cultivate data analysis capabilities and optimize design solutions. With the widespread adoption of AI,
designers must learn how to optimize designs through data. Traditional design relies more on the experience and
intuition of designers, and data-driven design has become mainstream in the AI era. Designers must not only
understand the meaning behind the data, but also learn how to apply it to improve the effectiveness of their work.
For example, in the design of e-commerce websites, AI can help designers adjust the order of display, color
matching, and advertising layout by analyzing the user’s purchase behavior and click preferences, thus increasing
the user’s stay time and conversion rate. Designers can collect and analyze user feedback by learning basic data
analysis skills and understanding common data analysis tools such as Google Analytics, Hotjar, and more. Based
on this data, designers can make more rational design optimizations. For example, in web design, designers can
adjust the layout structure of the page according to the user’s browsing behavior, optimize the interaction design,
and improve the user’s experience. Through these data analysis capabilities, designers can make more convincing
design decisions and enhance the competitiveness of their work.
Strengthen the ability to innovate and maintain creative thinking. Despite its excellence in creative
generation and data analysis, AI technology cannot completely replace designers’ creativity and humanistic care.
Designers should recognize that AI is adept at handling big data and performing repetitive tasks, but emotional
expression, the use of cultural symbols, and aesthetic judgment in design still require the wisdom and intuition
of human designers. Designers must constantly strengthen their ability to innovate and develop creative thinking
in order to remain competitive in the AI era. Designers can inspire new ideas through cross-disciplinary
collaboration and expansion of thinking styles. For example, in a project involving brand design, designers can
collaborate with multiple experts such as marketing teams, psychologists, data scientists, and use a
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multidimensional perspective to innovate designs. In addition, designers should pay attention to social and
cultural dynamics, especially in the context of globalization, where the convergence of different cultures often
generates new design inspiration. In this way, designers are able to create works with uniqueness and depth that
go beyond the “mechanized” designs generated by AI. At the same time, designers should also pay attention to
the social significance and cultural influence of the work. Design is not only a means of achieving business goals,
it also assumes social responsibility. Designers need to reflect in their work concerns for society, the environment,
and the future of mankind, so that design goes beyond the aesthetic presentation of the surface and becomes a
carrier of culture and values. In the context of AI technology rapidly penetrating all walks of life, graphic
designers face unprecedented challenges and opportunities. By mastering AI tools, expanding knowledge,
fostering data analytics, and reinforcing innovation and creativity, designers can adapt effectively to the changes
of this era and remain competitive in the design industry. While AI is changing the way design is executed,
designers’ creativity, understanding of human emotions, and keen insight into culture remain irreplaceable core
strengths. Designers should combine these unique strengths with AI technologies to drive innovation and
advancement in the design industry and usher in a new chapter in future design.
Case Study
Midjourney application and impact. Midjourney, a leading AI art generation tool, is rapidly changing the
way graphic design is created with its powerful image generation capabilities and user-friendly interface. The
ability of designers and artists to generate high-quality visual art based on short textual descriptions through
Midjourney revolutionizes the creative process. In Midjourney’s operation, the user only needs to enter a few
descriptions, and the AI will generate multiple designs based on this information. For example, a designer might
want to create an image of a city of the future by simply typing “Green, game-themed, vibrant restaurant” into
Midjourney, and the system will generate several distinctive visual works (Figure 4). This ability to generate
quickly not only greatly saves design time, but also provides designers with more creative options. Through the
combination with Midjourney, designers can see multiple different styles of design in a short period of time, thus
inspiring their inspiration and creativity. Midjourney’s AI model captures the characteristics of different styles
and trends by analyzing large amounts of data and images, making the resulting work both creative and visually
appealing. This rapid design iteration capability allows designers to quickly adjust the design direction when
customer needs change, improving work efficiency.
Transformation of designer roles. With the widespread adoption of AI tools such as Midjourney, the role
of designers is also changing profoundly. Traditionally, designers spend a lot of time drawing, tweaking, and
optimizing manually, but with the help of AI, these tedious tasks can be simplified or even fully automated.
Designers can now focus more on creative thinking and strategic planning. In collaboration with AI tools,
designers need to take on a new role, namely creative leaders and decision makers. Designers are no longer just
implementers, but need to accurately define project requirements, set design directions, and use AI tools to
evaluate and modify initial scenarios. In this way, designers can use the inspiration generated by AI to combine
their expertise with aesthetic ideas to create deeper and more sophisticated designs. This shift in role means
designers need to have greater communication skills and project management skills to ensure originality and
consistency in design in collaboration with AI. In addition, designers need to critically analyze AI-generated
content to ensure that the final design not only meets the needs of the customer, but also conveys the ideas and
emotions that the designer wants to express.
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Figure 4. AI design images generated according to instructions.

Design Ethics and Challenges

While AI tools such as Midjourney bring a lot of convenience to graphic design, they also spark discussions
about design ethics and originality. Since AI-generated designs tend to be based on large amounts of pre-existing
data, designers must be mindful of copyright and originality issues when using these tools. Designers need to
ensure that the work they produce does not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others and avoid potential
legal risks. Designers also need to be vigilant about the accuracy and applicability of AI-generated content. While
AI can generate high-quality designs, it cannot completely replace designers’ creativity and judgment. Designers
must review and modify AI-generated works to ensure that the final product meets project requirements and
design objectives.

Conclusions
In the current era of rapid technological development, artificial intelligence (AI) is profoundly changing the
face of the graphic design industry. With intelligent tools and technologies, designers’ workflows, creative
generation, user experience, and professional roles have changed dramatically. In particular, AI tools like
Midjourney provide designers with strong creative support and productivity to help them stay competitive in the
marketplace. Overall, the application of AI in graphic design has brought about many positive changes. Designers
are able to leverage AI tools to generate ideas quickly, save time, and focus on more creative work. At the same
time, the application of AI technology has also prompted designers to constantly update their skills and improve
 THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE GRAPHIC DESIGN JOB MARKET 267

their professionalism to cope with the rapid changes in the industry. By mastering AI technology, designers can
not only improve work efficiency, but also explore a wider range of creative fields and create a richer and more
diverse visual work. However, the development of AI technology is accompanied by challenges. Designers need
to face changing market demands, as well as ethical and legal issues raised by AI. When using AI tools, designers
should be sensitive and ensure that copyright and originality are respected in their creations. In addition, designers
need to constantly improve themselves, adapt to the changes brought about by new technologies, and find their
own unique position in the AI era. In the future, AI will play a more important role in graphic design. Designers
need to embrace these changes with an open mind, see AI as a partner, and create more human and creative
designs through effective collaboration. In short, the future of graphic design is full of opportunities and
challenges, and designers will be able to usher in a new era in this rapidly developing industry through constant
learning and adaptation.

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