I've been a stickler about designers being honest about their work most of my career. What was your role on the team? Who did you collaborate with? Where's the credit where credit's due?

I come from a punk rock school of thought, where authenticity is everything. After grad school, I walked away with ethics in the truest sense and a profound respect for the design profession. Working for agencies and brands made me admire branding, clients, kick-ass design, strategic thinking, teamwork, and genuinely talented creative teams.

We're all guilty of stealing design inspiration and following trends, and it's human nature to do that. The often misquoted "good artists copy, great artists steal" is a misappropriated Steve Jobs via Picasso cliche. It's missing a key point because it's more about the composition, combining data and research, making it yours, staying on brand, and knocking it out of the park for something new. Good designers are more like DJs, in a sense, than mockingbirds.

That brings me to my current thought. With rapid advancements and endless discussions around AI, it's easier than ever to fake it. You can aim lower now and easily fulfill your Don Draper fantasy by submitting a prompt to a chatbot. Don Draper was a horrible womanizing anti-hero who stole a dead soldier's identity and grifted his way to doing yoga and making Coke ads, lest we forget.

Phony designers have it easier than ever, but how you apply a brand and your point of view always comes through to the wise. Yes, AI tools will improve rapidly, but we devalue our profession with an even bigger flood of designers who haven't earned their stripes and undermine those who have. It's not cool.

I can still tell who the real deal is, but it's getting more challenging as these tools improve. The toxic positivity surrounding AI tools misses the opportunity to introduce ethical usage. Don't get me wrong; some sporadic efforts are being made there, but where are they for design? Where are you, AIGA?

Authenticity matters more than ever to the audience, customers, and consumers. How do we, as designers, be successful and keep our souls in the age of AI?

I think it's as simple as it always has been: Use AI as a creative tool to achieve good and even greater designs ethically and with respect, but stealing is still for posers.