AI and my creative practice
Artificial intelligence is changing the way people work—and how people perceive our work—in the creative industry. I’ve drafted this AI policy (with some guidance from friends in the design industry) to outline how I do and do not use AI and what I ask of my clients with regard to AI use in our collaboration.
This was last updated in September 2026 and will be updated as needed.
How I use AI
For better or worse, AI is here to stay, and I’m sure my feelings will evolve as it develops. AI has already been added into many of the services and software I use in my work (Google, Adobe, etc.) and it has shown promising applications in healthcare, communication, research, and other fields. However, I have significant concerns over the ethics behind training the models, the environmental impact of AI usage, and the cognitive decline associated with AI use. As such, I choose to avoid using AI, especially generative AI, in my creative process.
When you work with me, you can trust that all thinking and creative work (and em-dashes) come from me and my human brain.
How I don’t use AI
I don’t use AI to generate creative concepts or produce finished design work. My clients are hiring me to think critically about their organization, audience, and goals and to translate that thinking into meaningful creative work. Using an LLM to generate something that looks plausible isn’t a substitute for that process.
I also take client confidentiality seriously. I don’t knowingly upload confidential, sensitive or proprietary client information to public generative AI systems.
What I ask of my clients
Creative collaboration works best when the people involved are actually involved. Please don’t upload my proposals, drafts, source files, or other original work into generative AI systems. Doing so raises intellectual property concerns and removes the work from the strategy and context that shaped it.
No AI generated feedback. I also ask that feedback on creative work come from you, not from an AI tool. You know your organization, audience, goals, history, and brand. I bring expertise in interpreting all of that and translating it into visual and verbal communication. The strength of our collaboration comes from putting those two kinds of human experience together.
Your feedback doesn’t have to sound perfect, and it’s okay to not know all the correct design terminology—that’s why you hired me! I’m comfortable navigating candid feedback, strong opinions, difficult conversations, and messy problems. I want to know your genuine feedback.
While AI-generated critique can sound authoritative, it doesn’t know the conversations, strategy, constraints, and decisions behind the work. It can contradict itself or introduce recommendations that conflict with decisions we’ve already made, creating tension, confusion, and pulling us away from our goals.
AI shouldn’t become a third art director in the room. Our respective expertise, direct communication, and mutual trust are what make the work successful.
Please don’t ask me to “just recreate” a design that was made by AI. My skills extend beyond pixel pushing. When I create a design, it’s based in strategy and design expertise. Additionally, in many places, purely AI-generated work can’t be copyrighted or trademarked, so part of the value you get from hiring a professional comes from the ability to own your branding.
A human creative partnership
I chose a career in design because I love thinking creatively and making things. I’m not interested in using AI to replace the parts of my work that require experience, judgment, curiosity, and human connection. I draw a line when AI replaces creative thinking or undermines authorship, confidentiality, intellectual property, or the relationship between designer and client.
Design is visual communication, but the best design is an art, too, and art is weird, curious, process driven, and human.
When you hire me, you’re hiring me for my experience, judgment, and perspective. I want the work we create together to come from us.