Procreate, a design platform used by creatives, is the latest company to issue restrictions around AI, signaling how anti-AI sentiment is gaining steam in corners of the marketing world. 

But what started on social media as a declaration of company policy, quickly became something bigger. Creatives poured in with thousands of comments and quote-tweets lodging fierce criticism at another design platform, Adobe, which has gone all-in on AI. The viral venting session, which has about 22,000 reposts and 7,000 responses as of writing, comes at a time of continued conflict between a community upon which the ad industry relies and the advanced tools that promise to augment it.

The tension “has to do with the uncertainty of where this is going to end,” said Bas Korsten, global chief creative officer of innovation and chief creative officer (Europe, Middle East and Africa) at VML, referencing the many ways that AI has already been used to supplant human work.

Fearing retribution from consumers who see this augmentation as a negative, brands such as L’Oréal and Dove have prohibited the use of AI for specific use cases including human portrayals. Others are demanding general restrictions in their contracts with agency partners. In response to this outcry, even some providers themselves, such as Google, have curbed what their models are allowed to do.

A hard stance from a popular design platform reflects a new dimension in this resistance against AI. Procreate primarily offers digital painting tools, which creatives have used for a variety of marketing purposes. Most recently, Apple placed out-of-home ads around Paris for the Olympics, which were designed using Procreate. Blockbuster movies, including “Logan” and “Blade Runner 2049,” have also issued marketing materials created with the platform. Procreate did not return a request for comment.

On Sunday, Procreate CEO James Cuda posted a 40-second video to X (above) announcing that the company will not introduce AI into its products.

“I really [bleep] hate generative AI,” he said in the video. “I don’t like what’s happening in the industry and I don’t like what it’s doing to artists.”

Cuda’s stance reflects the extreme end of a tension boiling at production companies, fueled by new tools like OpenAI’s Sora that could potentially threaten their work. According to Korsten, the creative community’s fears of automation are exacerbated by the commonly held opinion that AI-generated work is uninspiring and unimpressive. 

Indeed, more than half of consumers can tell when AI was used to generate content, per a study released this week by Digitas and Vox Creative. Roughly 65% of content creators also said that AI is eroding creativity and making content appear the same.

These sentiments could have a real effect on the kinds of tools that creatives use. As evidenced by the outpouring of support for Procreate’s anti-AI stance, the platform appears to have bolstered its reputation in the eyes of the creative community.  

“If you want something unique, then use Procreate,” said Angel Gallo, art director at digital agency The KA Consulting Group. “For something easy and fast, then use AI tools.”

Adobe under fire

But while Procreate’s reputation has benefitted, Adobe’s has come under fire. The design giant was widely accused of embodying the antithesis of Procreate’s automation-free policy.

Popular tech reviewer Marques Brownlee weighed in, saying: “Take notes, Adobe.”

Adobe did not provide a comment for this story by deadline. 

Over the past year and a half, the design giant has played an active role in deploying generative AI capabilities through platforms such as Adobe GenStudio and its image model, Firefly. These offerings have been used in the marketing world to fuel brand refreshes and power personalization in advertising campaigns.

But Adobe’s efforts have greatly frustrated many creatives who believe that AI is harming creativity. This frustration seems to be helping Procreate succeed in carving out its niche as a platform that prioritizes human artists, said Gallo

VML’s Korsten, however, is not convinced that Procreate is actually benefiting in the long term from either its anti-AI stance or Adobe’s subsequent takedown.

“I think this is futile—AI is not going to go away,” he said.

Despite skeptical sentiments echoed by many of the creatives who commented on social media, Adobe has attempted to solidify itself as a relatively trustworthy AI provider. It has said multiple times that it trains its models solely on licensed content, as compared to models such as GPT-4 that hoover data from all kinds of sources. 

Still, Korsten views the weariness reflected by the creative community as a sign that a conversation is needed to realign incentives and ensure that AI is not moving too quickly for its own good.

“There’s room for both [Adobe and Procreate],” he said. “We’re in control here, let’s not forget that.”