Do you remember the eco-friendly era? When all a brand had to do was use a plain cardboard shipping box, pop some packing peanuts in there, add a card that mentioned the packaging was eco-friendly and recyclable, and the brand would immediately get praised by society?

Something initially seen as ‘progressive’ and ‘groundbreaking’ is now the bare minimum that I’d expect from a brand. And rightly so. I have a sneaking suspicion this is exactly what we’re going to see happen with AI.

The more brands that adopt a trend, the lower the level of their perceived awesomeness:

This eco-friendly trend got adopted by just about every brand, to the point where eco-friendly packaging and environmentally conscious choices became the norm, and eventually the baseline. Eco-friendly was once just about all a brand had to do to be seen as ‘doing good’ whereas now this decision sits at a place where I see a brand claim ‘eco-friendly’ and I think ‘...yeah ...and?’. Because of course they should be making planet-friendly packaging decisions. It’s the bare minimum. And these days, it’s not at all going to get you the same level of praise as it once did.

This is where AI comes in. We are currently existing in the intersection of the rise of AI and brands announcing their ‘human-made content’ and ‘raw BTS’. Brands will quite literally add to their campaigns and content captions that the piece was ‘human-made’ with ‘no AI’ as if this is some kind of flex. Along with sharing an entire BTS video to show the raw, real process behind bringing it to life.

Congratulations, you used a human. Is that what they want us to say?

Spoiler alert: creating campaigns from start to finish with 100% human creativity was once the baseline. It was once the bare minimum. Which makes ‘made with no AI’ not exactly the flex that brands seem to think it is.

We shouldn’t be praising brands for something that was once our baseline for all of eternity. Prior to recent years, campaigns were never made with AI. So why should it all of a sudden be something that receives praise?

Like any good designer, I’m a sucker for a solid campaign, and I LOVE seeing the BTS. So I am very much here for all the process content. I applaud it all. But it’s the whole ‘announcing’ it part that doesn’t sit right with me.

Announcing that you use eco-friendly packaging or create campaigns without AI is a bit like a car company announcing their newest car has airbags—like… umm… duh… I’d hope so? The statement becomes redundant because it’s the bare minimum we expect. Which makes the very act of announcing it feel a bit out of place, and like you expect something in return.

If the rise of eco-friendly packaging taught us anything, give it 5–10 years and ‘made 100% by humans’ will no longer be something brands say while expecting a pat on the back and a gold star for a job well done. (I’m counting on it).

IS HUMAN-WASHING THE NEW GREENWASHING?

I DON’T WANT TO BE A DESIGNFLUENCER