Designer’s Statement on AI
With the rapid proliferation of AI (artificial intelligence), this is the owner’s statement for clarity on the use of AI. For all custom designs and what appears on this website, human resourced design will be utilized.
Lucid 9 Design will not be using AI programs, or AI within programs to create any graphics, websites, writing/copy, or building designs.
It’s not that I want to take sides and say that all AI is bad. I do take the view that all tools, technology and development is neither good nor bad. How it is used by humans – and how its application and presence affects life – is what matters to me. I’ll break this down further, to share how I see AI in relation to design services.
Core Values
As shown on Lucid 9 Design’s Home page, these core values offer guiding intentions for how I offer services and do business. Without limiting my focus, these offer the principle ideals that apply to the uniquness of the creations I offer. I’ll break it down further:
Beauty
Artistic
+ Creative
Creating harmonic
messages in form.
SUSTAINABILITY
Regenerative
+ Kind
For your business + the life of the planet
INTENTION
Centered + Grounded + Intuitive
Co-creating your vision from infinite potential to reality
Beauty
We have all heard the quote, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”, meaning it’s all about your unique perspective. Ancient philosophy and modern neuroscience would support that statement with the understanding that there is something inherent in the human that recognizes beauty as in resonance with human patterns and proportion.
Resonance best describes beauty to me, and is quite often sensed or felt as a soulful, if not spiritual experience. Quite subjective, yes? It then becomes the responsibility of the designer to understand the end user of the design and their preferences relating to beauty in order to create harmony with the client’s audience.
Beauty in Human-Resourced Design
While AI can near instantly produce an attention grabbing image, it seems to be lacking the unique style and techniques that makes art such a vital part of human experience. AI is programmed to generalize the combined imagery and completely loses a more unique and individuated expression. Have you ever seen a stunning AI image of a person, and then realized they look devoid of soul, in spite of a gorgeous simile? These images can leave the pleasure centers stimulated, but the soul longing. That part is not new. Manipulative marketing is often based on addictive consumerism. Creating with soul sings of human creativity, even when digitally formed.
Sustainability
Financially, AI generated content is very sustainable for the budgets of the client, and quite the opposite for the environment. Goldman Sachs Research, published in May 2026, projects that U.S. data center power demands are projected to double by 2027. Google AI facilities water use is approximately 550,000 gallons per facility per day. 45% of current AI facillities are expected to face high water stress by 2050. (Source: https://axis-intelligence.com/ai-data-center-statistics/)
Certainly AI generated designs are not sustainable for designers around the world, many of whom are currently training AI before their jobs are cut by profiteers.
Value
Only a small aspect of sustainability is based on financial value. Most current societies have begun to understand that valuing the environment that supports human and organic life is the vital to our future. In the same way, placing value on humans is the understanding that we all depend on each other to thrive. Making choices that acknowledge the complex spectrum of the interconnectedness of life can make a huge difference in the collective quality of life.
The intelligence of the designer using hand, eye, heart, intuition, and their perception via digital programs such as Photoshop or ArchiCAD, or hand crafted and drawn creative works all embody the thing that makes human experience valuable: meaningful soul to soul connection.
Popular Trends
AI seems to be great at following popular trends, leaving little opportunity to be inspired by unique creativity. Popular trends, however, can be very helpful in marketing, if you’re promoting your business or website, and not so helpful designing a home for long-term value. And seeing popular trends come and go, we know that they are not sustainable overall. Again, I’m not saying its good or bad, but I choose to work with people who resonate with the kind of designs I produce. I create with my individuated perspective and inspiration, combined with my client’s visions, values and desires. It’s not all about me, but the value we each hold, the aliveness of the moment in time, the specialness of clients purpose, and the inherent beauty in the birth of our intentional co-creation.
Intention
Intention is the seed that starts things growing. Choosing from a place of passion and inspiration, we set the sails with clear intentions, rather than getting lost in currents. The greater the clarity, the more structure is offered for infinite possibilities to flow into the project. Clarity will include what is known about the project (such as budget, location and who it serves) and may also include the intangible unknowns (such as “soul”, “healing”, or “inspiring”).
We have the opportunity to bring forth something other than the mundane and the common, offering a fresh new perspective, gifts, information and inspiration to others through the power of intention.
Intuitive
Intuition taps into a field of potentials and information that has no known bounds. It is not always predictable or provable. Intelligence on the other hand, relies upon the known and provable. It is essential for our survival, such as when building a home that needs to withstand storms, earthquakes and even fires. Intelligence is a must for survival and evolution, yet so is intuition. Have you ever felt a strong inner-knowing to suddenly change plans, then find out that you might have been in an accident had you continued?
AI has no way of responding with that kind of specialized and person-specific knowing. AI can only use intelligence from the human collective that it has access to. If you’ve spent much time on social media and popular news, science or mainstream culture sources, then you see the input that AI is working from when it recieved keywords from the human user.
Centered and Grounded
Designs can become very specific and novel when coming from the authentic core of humans. When the designers have a sentient connection with life force and the life force of the plant and planetary beings, a human-resourced design that harmonizes with the bigger picture – the whole of creation – can emerge.
AI’s Seduction
And as I spend small pockets of time over a few days to write this in between other obligations, know that the temptation to use AI is real, yet what I write would not be from my heart. It would not be the gift from my expression in the moment, just as I wish to convey to you.
I prefer NI and HI over AI
As AI is a collection of the collective conscious, including all of it’s incoherence, drama and limited understanding. It cannot fully access the newness of the moment, or the unknowns that are yet-to-be discovered in science. Nature’s Intelligence (NI) keeps proving it knows so much more than our modern science. And current technology keeps reflecting back to us the Human Intelligence (HI) inherent in our biological body of energy, magnetism, biome, plasma, information interface with the infinite possibilities and spirit.
Human-resourced designs express authentic human heart, mind and energy in connection with you.
Let me know what you think about this topic in the comments.
