Prompts = delegation, nothing more. 

Getting a professional to fix my pipes does not make me a plumber. In a similar way, writing a prompt does not make me an artist. Or an author. Or a coder. Or anything other than someone who understands how to ask for what they’d like. This is a skill that we learn as small children, and while it can always be refined to fit a particular circumstance better, it’s hardly a major achievement. 

So, when I read folk claiming to be an artist because they wrote a prompt for Midjourney or Nano Banana, then I’m reminded of the concept of stolen valour. You’re not an artist, you’re someone who asked nicely.  

Now, it’s a different situation if you are an actual artist and you’re using the AI generated output as one part in your process and it’s going to get modified using your actual skill at art. In that use case, AI generated output is most similar to the raw material of photobashing, and is a process I expect is already widespread in professional concepting. It’s a tool. Artists use tools. They just don’t expect the paintbrush to do the whole picture without any more input than being asked to do so. 

Delegating your work is something we do all the time. However, when we hear or experience managers claiming the delegated work as their own then we all find that wrong. Same here. Delegated work isn’t your work. 

And, if you’re just flaunting the unmodified AI output as your own, as I’ve seen done repeatedly, then you are, at the absolute best, masquerading as an untrained art director. Most likely you’re just deluding yourself and lying to everyone else. 

Do better. 

Speaking of doing better, the other thing that delegating to AI does is atrophy any skills you did have. It’s obvious, and nothing to do with AI per se. Just like anything else, if you delegate the work to someone else, then the someone else is the one who learns and upskills themselves. Not you. 

Learning any skill takes time, effort, and lots of practice. Delegating is not a short cut, regardless of whether it’s to AI or a human. You don’t gain the skill. If anything, your existing skills degrade from lack of use. 

So, if you want to learn, you need to do. For yourself. The hard way.