The most common question I get asked nowadays as a partner/owner in a web design agency is...
How has AI affected your business? Has AI taken business away from you? Or some such variation.
And my answer? Yes, AI has definitely affected my business but not in the way people think.
The unsaid question behind the above questions is that if AI can make websites, why do we need a web design agency? This question misunderstands the ecosystem in which we operate. Yes, of course we build websites, but we do so much more than that - we understand the client’s requirements, prepare and execute a plan tailored to their needs, build the actual site and then maintain it for them, all the while the client is focused on their core business.
The client is not paying us only to design the site, they are paying us to take care of it all so that they do not have to - they are paying us for the outcome. And as of now, AI cannot do it all. The client is buying a trouble free support system for marketing their business online and an AI cannot fulfill the broad scope of that requirement.
AI is a wonderful tool that we use to improve and speed our work, whether it's in development or in content generation. It also acts as a great sounding board for ideation. But we make sure it remains a tool and not a dependency. We have been in the web design business for more than 24 years and have seen a great number of tools that have changed the way we work, and AI is no different.
It's certainly more powerful than anything we have seen previously but it's a tool nonetheless. Using it as such has been a huge time saver and efficiency creator in our business. Is it a game changer? Hmmm, the jury is still out on that one.
We sometimes get enquiries from firms who have used AI tools to build their site, and the sites are quite well designed. However, after launch they are difficult to update, throw random issues that are difficult to debug, have zero documentation and are a pain to maintain effectively.
The closest example would be that the client has bought a shiny car but they have no idea what kind of engine runs under the hood and when it breaks down on the road, they are lost, because AI is great at building, but very poor at maintaining.
And that is where a great web design agency makes a difference. We build from the ground up knowing exactly what has gone into the site and when it comes to maintenance, it’s easy and seamless. And most importantly we are there to pick up the phone when something goes wrong.
One of the common arguments thrown at us is why pay for a team of humans when AI is so much cheaper? Is AI cheaper? Not really, currently the leading AI companies are allowing you access at almost throw away prices.
But they have invested billions that they need to recoup and they will slowly start to raise prices to levels that will make AI accessible to only the richest companies.
The AI accessibility for the ordinary person will soon come to an end because the cost dynamics are simply unsustainable. The irony will then be that a team of humans will be cheaper than AIs.
I am a huge fan of world chess champion Garry Kasparov who decades ago, wrote about Human-AI dynamics. His thesis was that AI by itself was not enough and humans by themselves weren't either, but when you combine them in a dynamic partnership the results are much greater than the sum.
So I look forward to the evolution of the AI engines and we will adapt and learn and use it to make ourselves more effective. We look forward to a partnership though, not dependency, ever.
