Technology

Graphic artists in China push back on AI and its averaging effect

Published

6 months ago

June 27, 2025

Graphic artists in China push back on AI and its averaging effect

Sendi Jia, a designer running her own studio between Beijing, China, and London, England, says she mainly uses AI generators like DALL-E to make fake photos for background panels or websites when her clients don’t have access to real ones. That’s helped clients with limited budgets, but it’s also exposed just how much of the creative process AI can replace. Recently, a potential client working in a university contacted Jia about creating the logo for a new project. Then, they changed their mind. They had used AI to make it, they said.

Chinese graphic artists are rapidly experiencing the impact of image generators on their day-to-day work: the technology enables copycats and profoundly shifts clients’ perception of their work, specifically in terms of how much that work costs and how much time it takes to produce. Freelance artists or designers working in industries with clients that invest in stylized, eye-catching graphics, like advertising, are particularly at risk.

Long before AI image generators became popular, graphic designers at major tech companies and in-house designers for large corporate clients were often instructed by managers to crib aesthetics from competitors or from social media, according to one employee at a major online shopping platform in China, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from their employer.

Where a human would need to understand and reverse engineer a distinctive style to recreate it, AI image generators simply create randomized mutations of it. Often, the results will look like obvious copies and include errors, but other graphic designers can then edit them into a final product.

“I think it’d be easier to replace me if I didn’t embrace [AI],” the shopping platform employee says. Early on, as tools like Stable Diffusion and Midjourney became more popular, their colleagues who spoke English well were selected to study AI image generators to increase in-house expertise on how to write successful prompts and identify what types of tasks AI was useful for. Ultimately, it was useful for copying styles from popular artists that, in the past, would take more time to study.

“I think it forces both designers and clients to rethink the value of designers,” Jia says. “Is it just about producing a design? Or is it about consultation, creativity, strategy, direction, and aesthetic?”

“You might get a good result, but there will inevitably be dozens or even hundreds of poor ones … Personally, I see [AI image generators] as more of a toy than a tool.”

At ad agencies, for example, graphic designers work on comprehensive strategies for campaigns, aiming to create iconic, recognizable visual identities across a variety of formats. As such, AI image generators are less useful because they don’t produce anything particularly unique, according to Erbing, a graphic designer in Beijing who has worked with several ad agencies and asked to be called by his nickname.

“Each project faces different problems, and designers are there to solve specific problems, not to create identical visuals,” he says. “Sometimes, the process of thinking through a project takes longer than actually creating the visuals.”

When faced with more complex tasks, AI’s utility dwindles. Image generators are capable of creating many images, but that does not replace the work of understanding what an ad campaign needs to establish a visual identity and communicate what it is the client is selling and why people should buy it. Then, translating those concepts to the AI productively is its own challenge. Among graphic designers in China, there’s a joke that using an AI image generator is like gacha, referring to addictive games where users spend money to receive randomized items and find out what they won.

“You might get a good result, but there will inevitably be dozens or even hundreds of poor ones,” Erbing says. “Personally, I see [AI image generators] as more of a toy than a tool.”

Across the board, though, artists and designers say that AI hype has negatively impacted clients’ view of their work’s value. Now, clients expect a graphic designer to produce work on a shorter timeframe and for less money, which also has its own averaging impact, lowering the ceiling for what designers can deliver. As clients lower budgets and squish timelines, the quality of the designers’ output decreases.

“There is now a significant misperception about the workload of designers,” Erbing says. “Some clients think that since AI must have improved efficiency, they can halve their budget.”

But this perception runs contrary to what designers spend the majority of their time doing, which is not necessarily just making any image, Erbing says.

Erbing, like other designers, hopes AI image generators can become more useful to graphic designers in the future, and notes that people’s perception of their usefulness outpaces their actual application. In the meanwhile, it is twisting the clients’ view of the usefulness of the artists themselves.

Technology

Chrome rolls out AI podcast feature on Android

Published

8 minutes ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Chrome rolls out AI podcast feature on Android

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Chrome on Android now offers a fresh way to digest information when your hands are busy or your eyes need a break.

A new update powered by Google Gemini can turn written webpages into short podcast-style summaries. Two virtual hosts chat about the content, making it feel easier to follow during your commute or while you multitask.

This upgrade builds on Chrome’s long-standing read-aloud tool, yet now adds a more natural and lively delivery. It does not work on every website, so some pages will still use the original word-for-word reading. When the AI option appears, though, the audio feels polished and smooth.

Below is how to try it on your Android phone right now.

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HOW TO DISABLE GEMINI AI ON ANDROID AND KEEP CONTROL OF YOUR APPS

Make sure you have the newest Chrome version so the AI podcast feature works. (Cyberguy.com)

Update Chrome before you start

First, make sure Chrome is current in the Play Store by opening the Play Store, searching for Google Chrome and tapping Update if it appears. The AI podcast feature works with version 140.0.7339.124 or newer, so confirm you have at least that version installed. Once you finish the update, open Chrome and pick any webpage with text you want to hear.

Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer.

Open the More menu

Tap the More icon or the three vertical dots in the upper right corner. This reveals a set of options that control how Chrome displays or reads the page.

Select Listen to this page

Choose Listen to this page. You will see a small Generating AI playback banner at the bottom. The processing is fast, so you will not wait long.

Hear the AI hosts discuss the page

Chrome will start a mini podcast with two voices talking through the content. You can tap the playback bar to pause, rewind or jump ahead. The panel stays on screen and follows you as you scroll.

Switch to standard playback when you want

The AI audio keeps going even if you leave the webpage. If you prefer a traditional word-for-word readback, tap the AI playback icon in the lower left and pick Standard Playback.

Chrome begins creating the AI audio as soon as you tap the “Listen to this Page” option. (iStock)

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What this means to you

This feature can make long articles easier to absorb when you are on the move. You get a quick, conversational rundown without having to read a full page. It also helps you revisit information faster since the controls work like any audio player. If you enjoy podcasts, this tool gives you a familiar way to stay informed without draining your attention.

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Kurt’s key takeaways

Chrome’s AI podcast feature brings a new layer of convenience to Android. It saves time, reduces eye strain and turns everyday browsing into a hands-free audio experience. Since it still supports the standard read-aloud mode, you can switch back anytime.

Would you use AI hosts to read your favorite websites, or do you prefer the classic readback style? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

Using the new update powered by Google Gemini, you can change from the AI podcast to a simple word-for-word reading at any time. (“I’ve Had It” YouTube channel)

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Even Trump’s chief of staff was ‘aghast’ at Elon Musk’s deadly USAID cuts

Published

12 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Even Trump’s chief of staff was ‘aghast’ at Elon Musk’s deadly USAID cuts

Wiles says she called Musk on the carpet. “You can’t just lock people out of their offices,” she recalls telling him. At first, Wiles didn’t grasp the effect that slashing USAID programs would have on humanitarian aid. “I didn’t know a lot about the extent of their grant making.” But with immunizations halted in Africa, lives would be lost. Soon she was getting frantic calls from relief agency heads and former government officials with a dire message: Thousands of lives were in the balance.

Wiles continued: “So Marco is on his way to Panama. We call him and say, ‘You’re Senate-confirmed. You’re going to have to be the custodian, essentially, of [USAID].’ ‘Okay,’ he says.” But Musk forged ahead—all throttle, no brake. “Elon’s attitude is you have to get it done fast. If you’re an incrementalist, you just won’t get your rocket to the moon,” Wiles said. “And so with that attitude, you’re going to break some china. But no rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody.”

Technology

OpenAI announces upgrades for ChatGPT Images with ‘4x faster generation speed’

Published

12 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

OpenAI announces upgrades for ChatGPT Images with ‘4x faster generation speed’

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

OpenAI announced an update for ChatGPT Images that it says drastically improves both the generation speed and instruction-following capability of its image generator.

A blog post from the company Tuesday says the update will make it much easier to make precise edits to AI-generated images. Previous iterations of the program have struggled to follow instructions and often make unasked-for changes.

“The update includes much stronger instruction following, highly precise editing, and up to 4x faster generation speed, making image creation and iteration much more usable,” the company wrote.

“This marks a shift from novelty image generation to practical, high-fidelity visual creation — turning ChatGPT into a fast, flexible creative studio for everyday edits, expressive transformations, and real-world use.”

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The OpenAI GPT-5 logo appears on a smartphone screen and as a background on a laptop screen in this photo illustration in Athens, Greece. (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The announcement comes just weeks after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red” in a memo within his company to improve the quality of ChatGPT.

In the document, Altman said OpenAI has more work to do on enhancing the day-to-day experience of its chatbot, such as allowing it to answer a wider range of questions and improving its speed, reliability and personalization features for users, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The reported company-wide memo from Altman comes as competitors have narrowed OpenAI’s lead in the AI race. Google last month released a new version of its Gemini model that surpassed OpenAI on industry benchmark tests.

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The OpenAI logo Feb. 16, 2025 (Reuters/Dado Ruvic)

To focus on the “code red” effort to improve ChatGPT, OpenAI will be pushing back work on other initiatives, such as a personal assistant called Pulse, advertising and AI agents for health and shopping, Altman said in the memo, according to the Journal.

Altman also said the company would have a daily call among those responsible for enhancing ChatGPT, the newspaper added.

“Our focus now is to keep making ChatGPT more capable, continue growing, and expand access around the world — while making it feel even more intuitive and personal,” Nick Turley, the head of ChatGPT, wrote on X Monday night.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Federal Reserve’s Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference in Washington, D.C., July 22, 2025. (Reuters/Ken Cedeno)

OpenAI currently isn’t profitable and has to raise funding to survive compared to competitors like Google, which can fund investments in their AI ventures through revenue, the Journal reported.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on X: @Hagstrom_Anders.