Creative pros say that their use of AI tools is growing fast and that the new technology is not only helping them deal with a rapidly accelerating demand for content, but actually making their work better.

On average, creative pros said they use AI on more than 40 percent of the projects they produce and many are using AI tools for at least half their work week. And nearly 9 in 10 creatives say generative AI has made their work better. “My overall work quality and the depth of my illustrations have skyrocketed since AI,” said one respondent who works in animation.

“It’s helped me think of other creative ways to display information I might otherwise not consider,” said a UI/UX design manager.

The data comes from a survey of more than 400 creative professionals and more than 400 marketers completed last month by Adobe and research firm Advanis.

Overall, the survey findings highlight how creatives aren’t just experimenting with creative generative AI, but making it an essential part of their toolkit and rapidly adapting to the tremendous technological paradigm shift it represents. While they retain some concerns about AI, creatives are quickly learning how to incorporate it into their workflows and how the technology can help them be both more efficient and more creative. The research also shows that by improving their prompts and using multiple models, creatives are better able to get what they need from AI.

Moving faster

One significant advantage of working with AI is the way it accelerates the creative process, survey respondents said. Ninety-four percent of creative pros in the survey said they can produce content more quickly with AI and the majority say AI has made them at least 50 percent faster. On average, creatives say they’re saving 17 hours a week with the new technology. “It has allowed me to create content more prolifically and not waste as much time on menial tasks,” said a director working on web and app design and development.

“It’s made it easier for the little parts to get done faster so the harder parts have more time to be worked on,” said one respondent in the retail/consumer packaged goods industry.

Content demand rising

The efficiencies AI creates are essential for creatives facing increasing demands for their work. Both creatives and marketers say the demand for content has at least doubled over the last two years and they expect even greater demand over the next two years. Creatives are in a crunch because the pace of marketing is accelerating — campaigns come together more quickly and they are updated more regularly. More than 8 in 10 marketers say they update campaigns weekly and more than a third update daily.

Fortunately, nearly 9 in 10 creatives said they are finding it easier to get the results they want from generative AI tools. Our respondents said that’s partially because the tools themselves are getting better, but even more importantly, they’re learning how to use them better.

In general, Adobe’s research has found that longer prompts return better results. And creatives and marketers area learning that lesson. Over the last year, the average length of prompts has increased. And that has led to more downloads of the AI output — the ultimate measure of whether a prompt was completed successfully.

Multiple models help

Creative pros say they have also embraced using more than one AI model to ensure they’re getting the best results. Nine out of 10 creatives use more than one model on each asset they create.

Using more than one model has numerous advantages, creatives said. Different models excel at different tasks and half of respondents say they pick specific models for specific tasks. Nearly half say they also like to compare the outputs from different models to find the result that works best for their project.

Some concerns remain

As many creatives have embraced and seen the benefits and opportunities AI brings to their workflows, the concerns that remain are around the ability to maintain brand continuity (84 percent), commercial safety (77 percent), and homogenized creative output (64 percent).

And nearly 3 in 4 respondents are concerned that their bosses and clients, aware that AI is making creativity more efficient, will push the demand for content to levels impossible to meet, even with AI’s help.

At the same time, though, some initial fears about generative AI impact on their work, have receded among creatives. Forty six percent of respondents said they have seen job opportunities go up, compared to 30 percent who said they had declined.

Less stigma, more trust

And for some creatives, the benefits of AI go beyond just efficiency. Some respondents described how AI helps them explore and unlock their own imaginations.

“GenAI has significantly improved what is possible — imagining unbelievable things,” said one respondent who works in video, audio and animation.

A graphic designer/illustrator summed it up this way: “It has just opened a creative window for me.”