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AI is moving fast: are you feeling empowered or overwhelmed?

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
February 18, 2026
25 replies
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I recently compared Firefly, Gemini Nano, and FLUX 1 Kontext Pro inside Photoshop. One gives me ideas in seconds with different generations vs the time it takes to draw one sketch or composed one. It’s an incredible power, but I wonder if we’re losing our creative "gut feeling" in the process. Design has changed for many. In Photoshop, AI has turned the canvas into an interactive partner. As designers, we are no longer just creators; we are curators of a conversation.

We’ve never had this much power at our fingertips, but does speed equal mastery? I want to know: Does that speed make you feel like a creative powerhouse, or does it make you wonder who’s really in the driver’s seat?

Please drop a comment with your experience! ~ Love to hear how your process or thoughts has shifted—No right or wrong answers here—just your honest take!

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jamesmite

Participating Frequently

Love this question — it really hits the core of what’s changing.

Using tools like Adobe Photoshop with AI features powered by Adobe Firefly, Gemini Nano, or FLUX.1 Kontext Pro definitely feels like having a creative accelerator. You can explore ten directions in the time it used to take to sketch one.

For me, speed doesn’t replace instinct it amplifies it. The “gut feeling” just shifts from drawing every line to choosing what feels right. The craft becomes less about execution and more about judgment, taste, and refinement.

That said, it’s easy to let the tool lead instead of your vision. If you’re not careful, you start reacting instead of directing.

So I’d say: speed doesn’t equal mastery but it does magnify it. The real question is whether we’re using AI

creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@jamesmite I would think it’s likely 50% of Photoshop users are using AI in their workflow, and maybe those who are the baby boomers may be reluctant, and the gneration after that are warming up to it. I am assuming the Millennials and Gen Z are all over this. I was talking to a fellow who asked what I did for a living and he said his kid doesn’t want to be going to university while his son could be an influencer or YouTuber. And let’s be honest, that can be a miss in more ways than one!

For me, spitting out 15 versions of a design while I’m still on my first cup of coffee is a total game-changer. Now, instead of spending hours drawing or or composing in Photoshop, I’m spending hours just trying to pick the one that doesn't look like AI made it!

I probably use AI in about 20% of my workflow. In my writing for sure, except in this case. And sometimes, I even forget that too!

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dannyrichards

Participant

I feel this a lot.

AI definitely feels empowering in terms of speed. The fact that you can spin up variations in seconds is wild. It’s like brainstorming with a machine that never gets tired. But at the same time, I sometimes wonder if I’m reacting more than creating — choosing between outputs instead of sitting with an idea long enough to let it get weird.

I don’t think we’re losing the “gut,” but I do think we have to protect it. If everything becomes instant, there’s less space for friction — and friction is where a lot of originality lives.

Weirdly, I think about this the same way I think about slower, intentional brands like [Removed] Their whole vibe feels grounded and simple, not rushed. That energy reminds me that just because we can move fast doesn’t mean we always should.

AI is an incredible partner. But I still want some blank-canvas silence in the process.

creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@dannyrichards I guess it feels like I’m just 'shopping' for the best version of an idea rather than giving birth to it or until something looks cool. I agree on the blank-canvas silence—sometimes the loudest thing in the room is the AI trying to finish my sentences before I’ve even thought of the word.

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dannyrichards

Participant

I feel that. It can start to feel like you’re browsing ideas instead of actually creating them. And yeah, the AI jumping in too early can drown out that quiet space where ideas slowly take shape.

Maybe the key is sitting with the blank canvas a bit longer before bringing AI into the mix — so it feels like collaboration, not replacement.

Tygabillionz

Participant

👻

Does that speed make you feel like a creative powerhouse, or does it make you wonder who’s really in the driver’s seat?

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creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@Tygabillionz not sure what to make of that question...hmmm

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jamesmite

Participating Frequently

Absolutely, I can relate! AI tools like Firefly and Gemini Nano definitely speed up the ideation process, letting us explore many directions in seconds. For me, it feels like a creative amplifier rather than a replacement my gut feeling still guides which ideas to develop.

That said, there are moments when I pause and ask myself, “Am I creating, or is the AI leading?” It’s a balance: speed gives freedom, but mastery still comes from curating and refining the AI output with your own vision.

Curious to see how others navigate that tension too!

creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@jamesmite for me, I still do thumbnails and sketches before I start to go to the next step of things. Then figure out the color combinations with the help of the client, check for accessibility if they work or not, and start to dive deeper. I just found that the last prospective gigs that I have with prospective clients, they really like the use of AI… and then finally took a look and see what the ‘hype’ was all about, and there are pros and cons. It might be a tool for ideas. But so many businesses are using it as a final concept. I also moderate a YouTube Community on Facebook, and so many community members love using AI for their thumbnails to the videos. The good thing is that YouTube is changing this and removing channels that are predominately using AI (not good for advertising!). But, yet, people are still using it.

Like many comments below, some say more or less say, bite the bullet, don’t use it or be left behind, be hungry, great tool for ideas and so on. so much to ponder and think about…

How do you AI? DO you just use it for the ideation process? Or do you use till the final concept?

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jamesmite

Participating Frequently

Absolutely! AI in Photoshop is amazing for speeding up ideation, but it does raise questions about maintaining our creative intuition. I like thinking of it as a collaboration — the designer guides, curates, and refines, while AI offers new possibilities we might not have considered. It’s less about replacing creativity and more about expanding it.

creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@jamesmite I love that perspective. 'Expanding' rather than 'replacing' is exactly the sweet spot we’re all aiming for. It really does feel like having a tireless brainstorming partner who never runs out of coffee! It definitely opens doors we might have otherwise missed. I was actually discussing the career side of this with a former student recently, and he put it bluntly: 'AI is now a tool. Know it and you will be positioned to be job market ready. Ignore it and look behind the times.' It makes me wonder—is the 'gut feeling' we’re worried about losing just being replaced by a new kind of technical intuition?

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bagehany

Participant

For me, it’s both. The speed is exciting and helps me try ideas quickly.

But sometimes it feels like I’m moving too fast and not thinking deeply. In the end, I think it still depends on how we use it.

creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@bagehany I think I am in the same boat as you. It’s almost like we have to be more disciplined now because it’s so easy. The temptation to just take the first cool thing the AI gives us is real! I’m trying to remind myself that just because it was fast doesn't mean it’s finished. It’s all about keeping that human 'gut check' alive in the middle of all the high-speed options. Like @Ged_Traynor said a first: “texting something into a prompt and asking AI to generate something is not Creative, you’re not actually creating something, AI is doing the creation, you’re just asking it to do it for you.”

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john5444

Participant

I totally relate to this AI in Photoshop really feels like a double-edged sword. On one hand, tools like Firefly and Gemini Nano can generate multiple iterations in seconds, which is amazing for exploring ideas quickly. On the other hand, I sometimes worry that the process of sketching or composing manually, which used to help develop intuition and “gut feeling,” is being shortened too much.

I’ve noticed something similar while observing creative workflows for different projects, even for small business sites like rincondentistry.com, where visuals are often designed to communicate very specific messages. The challenge is balancing efficiency with maintaining that original creative insight.

I’m curious how others approach this do you let AI take the lead for initial concepts, or do you still start with sketches and use AI as a refinement tool?

creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@john5444 I start out with thumbnails and sketches, the way we were taught. And then fine-tune it. I just tried to stay away from AI just because it wasn’t me. I am merely prompting it, but when I start to see others work where they use AI, I started to see the capabilities on how it could speed my workflow. Not only that, I have had a few clients explicitly asking if I would use AI, and I tend to say no. In the end, I don’t get the gig. It’s a double-edged sword, damned if I do damned if don’t!

What about you? Do you let AI take the lead for initial concepts, or do you still start with sketches and use AI as a refinement tool?

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Celine_Ayt

Participating Frequently

I guess AI has changed the way I see things.
In some ways, it makes things easier and faster.

In my field — brand design — AI does not do a fully satisfying job. It lacks consistency. That’s actually good news for me, even if my clients seem to like it.

So what’s the solution?
Should I use more AI to satisfy my clients, even if I lose my passion for creating?
Or should I keep trying to educate them?

I hope people will eventually get fed up with AI and turn back to handmade, human-brain-driven solutions.

creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@Celine_Ayt I am 100% with you. I have lost potential clients who really love AI, and the use of AI in their work. As a graphic designer and instructor, I do branding to annual reports (impact reports), brochures to web design.

One of my friends who has a client has even said morally they feel defeated. They pitch their own ideas, and the creative director would show them AI concepts they like...it goes back and forth. My friend wants to resign, but I tell them, make sure you have a job lined up first because of the job market. For the time being, they are still there...it’s going on for a year now!

There is so much AI technology, it will eventually get better, but at what cost?

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D Fosse

Community Expert

I still think the best characterization is this (I think it was Leslie Moak Murray who said it):

Typing a prompt doesn’t mean you’re creative, it means you’re a good typist.

Or something to that effect. Either way, that sums it up very well. Now, it may well be that you need some typed element in your image, just to fill out some insignificant corner, and as such it can save time. Emphasis on save time, because you can still do it the old way if you’re any good with Photoshop.

It can defend its place in the toolset as a time saving shortcut. That’s OK. But it can never be “creative”. By definition, AI reuses images that are already out there, and the more often done, the higher the likelihood it will turn up. It produces cliches. It can never invent something entirely new (except maybe people with six and a half fingers or three legs).

I took the position early on that this is something I don’t want to go into. The ethical line is too easy to cross. I’ve never regretted that, and more to the point, I have never, ever, missed it. I manage fine without it.

In light of the current AI hype, it’s important to distinguish AI from AI. In hard sciences, it clearly has a place. In those fields, you want to consolidate existing information, that’s the goal, and AI is very good at that. That’s why most scientists are very enthusiastic. But there’s still a potential of misuse even there.

creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@D Fosse I have resisted AI for the longest time; maybe, it’s the clients I attract as most of my freelance has been through referrals—people are connected with one another. The one that stung was the 6-business retail store. And they liked my work...but wanted to know my thought of AI. Maybe I should have been more diplomatic. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise as my wife didn’t want me to have any association with it (the main company was a cannabis store) and my wife was against that. As an instructor, would tach the students about ‘Copyright’ and ‘Creative Commons’ and for me, using AI is clearly using other people’s work. I would bee a ‘hypocrite’ going against my own ‘ethics’ and ‘moral beliefs’ — but like someone said here,

@Trevor.Dennis said it well…
If you don’t like it, don’t use it. If you are doing this stuff for a living and ‘still’ don’t like it, get used to being hungry.

I should practice what I preach, but then my livelihood takes a beating as well.

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Mariam Hovhannesyan

Community Expert

Ai is a great tool but not creative. And it’s a helper that people need so the work can go much faster. I love AI as a tool to help me in my creative journey. But don’t like when people taking it very seriously as a art creator or a husband or one they can’t live without. It’s just a great tool for professionals in their field.

creative explorer

Author

Community Expert

@Mariam Hovhannesyan ‘But don’t like when people taking it very seriously…. a husband or one they can’t live without’ — where’d that come from? You actually know someone who is talking with it like a husband?

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