In this episode of We Are the Machine, host Chris dives into the best AI tools for designers in 2025 — and what they mean for artists navigating the rapidly changing creative landscape.

Fresh off stories of AI colliding with the art world, Chris turns the conversation toward the practical side: the tools that are saving creators time, money, and frustration… while also raising hard questions about originality, value, and jobs in creative fields.

We break down the current leaders across visual art, design, UX, branding, and even music production:

• Midjourney V7 – The image generator that can create professional-level concepts in seconds. A blessing for designers who need quick mockups, but a curse for illustrators trying to stand out.

• Adobe Firefly – Baked into Photoshop and Illustrator, Firefly’s “Generative Fill” makes photo edits and design tweaks effortless — but risks turning designers into prompt writers instead of craft masters.

• Canva Magic Studio – AI-powered layouts and content generation that democratizes design. Great for indie creators and businesses, but could flood the internet with same-y, template-driven visuals.

• Figma with AI plugins – Tools that generate wireframes and predict user behavior, changing how UX designers work and raising questions about whether human intuition still matters.

• Khroma – An AI color palette generator that learns your style, helping with consistency while also trapping you inside your own aesthetic bubble.

• Recraft – Built for cinematic-quality, brand-consistent visuals at scale. A huge win for marketing teams, but potentially disruptive for freelance designers who once filled that role.

• iZotope Ozone 12 – Advanced AI-driven mastering for musicians, offering professional sound without professional budgets — and pushing traditional mastering engineers into uncertain territory.

Across all of these, one theme emerges: AI is making design faster, cheaper, and more accessible — but also more homogenized. Artists now face a new challenge: not just creating, but standing out in a world where everyone has the same superpowers.

Chris offers context, humor, and hard questions:

• Do these tools empower artists or quietly deskill them?

• Will clients still pay for craft when the machine can do it in seconds?

• And most importantly — how do you bend these tools to your will, instead of letting them flatten your voice?

From music to film to graphic design, this episode is a guide, a warning, and a pep talk rolled into one. Whether you’re a seasoned creative pro or just curious where the industry is heading, this conversation lays out both the opportunities and the risks of designing in the age of AI.