There has been a lot said about AI and how it is going to take out a lot of jobs, which I have yet to be convinced. Speaking from the perspective of an artist and a programmer, artificial intelligence is more of a nifty tool than it is something that will take my job. But, I do see the concern – which brings me to the next lesson that bees can teach us: The ability to adapt.

Bees are seemingly everywhere, there are over 20,000 different species in the world, 4,000 of them live in the US alone. Where ever plants and flowers are, you can bet that there are bees. Over thousands of years, bees have been evolving in order to live in the diverse biomes that our planet has to offer. As difficult as it seems in this fast changing world – you can adapt too.

For example, one thing that I really believe strongly in is that graphic designers need to learn programming. Not because AI is going to eliminate the need for graphic designers, graphic design is an ageless job- as long as there is art there will always be artists. But how we make art will change. I don’t see many designers painting hieroglyphics anymore, nor do I see them painstakingly creating manuscripts in abbeys. We are in a world commanded by the digital, and I would be in denial if I did not think that change was at the door. It would be foolish to say that it wasn’t. So- how does a graphic designer change?

I have personally found it helpful to change the question from how, to why? Why should a graphic designer change and learn programming?

Just like honeybees have evolved to survive in changing environments, graphic designers must also evolve and stay ahead of the curve. By learning to code, you can not only stay relevant in a world dominated by AI, but you can also unlock new opportunities and enhance your creative process. Coding allows you to have a better understanding of the technical limitations and possibilities of the medium you’re designing for, much like how honeybees have adapted to different flowers and pollen sources.

Moreover, coding can also improve the design process itself. Designers already know the importance of iterating and experimenting with different design concepts. With coding skills, you can create and test design concepts in a browser, saving time and resources compared to creating mockups in design software. This allows for faster iteration and experimentation, resulting in better designs. As a recent example, in my job, I work with making web-to-print solutions and I come across many a design that might look great for some shorter names, or email addresses once you start getting into longer email addresses you find that the design just doesn’t match up to the specific branding anymore. Making the text have to shrink in size or for the email line to break. Causing the branding to just be a little off. This could have been avoided had the designer thought about the project and how it would function. Having coding skills improves the functionality of a process, much like how honeybees have developed more efficient ways of collecting nectar.

Most importantly, it opens up new career paths. AI is already bringing in some new jobs that people have never even thought of- prompt engineering will probably be a resume qualification for some technical jobs sooner rather than later. But graphic designers that learn programming can open up their careers to fields such as web design, user interface design, mobile app design and so much more. While bees don’t necessarily change career paths unless they are a Jerry Seinfeld type of bee. It was still an important enough point to mention.

This type of mentality applies to any job – take authorship for instance. I bet you didn’t even notice that this article was written by an AI, an AI that was carefully fed facts, thoughts, and biased opinions to create this very article that you are reading. Is it stealing my job as the author? No, I still remain as the author, AI was just a tool to help put my thoughts into words.

In conclusion, don’t be afraid of change, rather, embrace it! Focus on your reasons why you should adapt to this fast-paced digital world, and then develop a plan on how to make it possible! Maybe it is through certificates, or getting a new degree – perhaps even watching a few YouTube videos? So don’t be afraid to adapt, like the honeybees, and take the steps to evolve and grow in your career.

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If you want to practice prompt engineering for yourself, this article was written with the help of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which you currently can try for yourself here.