Extremely Popular Russian Designer Had a Secret: ‘He’ Was an AI

A Russian design firm’s artist, named Nikolay Ironov, delighted influencers, restaurateurs and companies with logos, apps, and new products for a year. The clients loved his quirky designs. Then the firm told its clients that “he” was an AI they designed.

Boom.

While the clients were more amused than upset, the revelation was disconcerting. How could an AI express such personality in designs? According to a story on fastcompany.com, humans were involved in entering text about companies and guiding the AI, which proposed visuals. So while it did the final designs, it wasn’t all alone in its creativity. Here’s how Fast Company describes the process:

“…a series of touch up algorithms smooth out the rough edges of the design, and create color palettes. The human designer is then offered a series of branding options, all wildly different, and sometimes, as the company admits, they can even look ‘crazy.’ But while they continually input more visual styles into Ironov’s taste—and the studio does seem to still be using the software for design—they don’t want to limit its creativity. Because it’s specifically taking different design directions than a human might think up, which is a type of value, too.”

Mark Wilson, a senior writer at Fast Company who has written about design, technology, and culture for almost 15 years, says the AI demonstrates that it’s ready for prime time, at least in the design business.

read more at fastcompany.com