Barriers to AI adoption threaten to stifle the powerful UK creative sector, but help is at hand through new programmes that aim to assist product designers to unlock their AI ambitions, writes Sara El-Hanfy of Innovate UK
Since its explosion into the mainstream, artificial intelligence (AI) has begun to disseminate almost every corner of the workforce. While the adoption of AI has immense potential to streamline processes in the workplace, some sectors – particularly the creative sector – have been slower to absorb this new technology into their processes.
From developing graphics to 3D design, AI can automate mundane tasks and to assist in the design process, increasing profits and unlocking the full potential of the various fields in the design landscape.
The creative sector in the UK is a powerhouse, employing over 2.3 million highly skilled individuals who have honed their crafts over many years. While AI boasts impressive capabilities in generating text, images and video, the adoption of this technology into the creative sector does not come without challenges.
It is no surprise that some creatives rightly feel threatened by this emerging technology. Companies looking to cut costs could deploy generative AI to develop and design content for their business, replacing the need to hire designers and laying off existing creatives on their teams.
But AI technologies cannot replace the intuitive thinking of human creativity. Instead, AI should be embraced as a tool to augment creatives, expanding possibilities and accelerating workflows.
When it comes to generative 3D modelling, AI technologies certainly hold potential but are unable to fully replace the skills and nuance of human designers working in the field.
While there are less concerns about job security in the 3D design sector for now, a shift in the way these 3D designers are working is necessary to take full advantage of AI capabilities to automate as many processes as possible, increasing productivity in the sector as a whole.
The traditional 3D design process is quite complex and laborious, with designers requiring a high level of skill to operate in this sector. To maximise efficiency in this sector, AI can be integrated to speed up the time-consuming aspects of design like duplicating tedious design elements.
AI can identify potential issues and suggest process adjustments by analysing data from previous manufacturing runs. Similarly, AI can be used to create complex geometries that were previously impossible or difficult to achieve with traditional design methods.
Without adequate investment from government, the full potential of the UK creative sector will remain untapped
Innovate UK – Building foundations
While the creative sector stands to greatly benefit from the adoption of AI, uptake has been rather slow. Creative industries are vital to the UK economy, contributing £109 billion in 2021.
Without adequate investment from the government to overcome barriers to AI adoption, the full potential of the creative sector will remain untapped.
From training programmes to grants for overcoming financial constraints relating to AI adoption, government investment may be key in upskilling creatives on how to utilise AI most efficiently in the creative field to maximise creative output.
The Innovate UK BridgeAI programme, which is delivered by Innovate UK and its partners The Alan Turing Institute, BSI, Digital Catapult and STFC Hartree Centre, is ensuring that the foundations exist to support responsible technology development.
BridgeAI is fostering collaborations across the ecosystem through accelerator programmes, workshops, and toolkits to ensure those working in the creative sector are as equipped as they can be for this shift towards an AI-enabled future. The Innovate UK BridgeAI programme has already demonstrated how targeted investment and collaboration can have a positive impact on low-adoption sectors.
One such collaboration was between Lancaster University’s School of Engineering and Batch.Works, a design and additive manufacturing business.
Batch.Works’ design process for additive manufacturing was both manual and time-intensive. Funded by Innovate UK, this collaboration sought to revolutionise the design process for additive manufacturing through integration of AI.
By implementing AI-based support systems, Batch.Works minimised manual tweaking, reduced trial and error and enhanced overall product quality. In reducing the number of design iterations required, designers were able to focus more on creativity and on accelerating the design-to-production timeline. This resulted in improved efficiency, reduced costs, and enhanced competitiveness.
While AI does not have the potential to replace 3D artists, and should not do so, this technology will undoubtedly change how all 3D artists and those in the creative sector work in the future. With government investment and training in AI systems, the creative sector holds massive potential to boost its contributions to the UK economy.
Through adopting this new tech, creatives are uniquely positioned to maximise creative output in the face of strict deadlines, acquiring new and valuable skills in the process.
About the author:
Sara El-Hanfy is Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Innovate UK, a part of UK Research & Innovation.
She works to identify, support and accelerate high growthpotential innovation in the UK, based on cutting-edge AI and data research and technology.
This article first appeared in DEVELOP3D Magazine
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