(and maybe a couple of quirky reasons you can)
I don’t have to tell you that AI is everywhere (it’s so totally everywhere). But maybe web design, specifically website content like photos, is somewhere it shouldn’t be. While AI-generated images seem like a quick, easy, and often cost-effective alternative to graphic design or photography, your website will blend in rather than stand out.
Here are the 10 reasons you should avoid using AI for your website content and photos (and maybe a few fun, quirky reasons you can use it).
Reason 1: Where’s the Realness?
AI-generated images often lack authenticity, appearing generic and artificial. Their surreal quality can fail to capture your brand’s true essence.
But AI takes some unnecessary blame here. This doesn’t just apply to AI-generated photos. In many cases, stock photos might be a better choice, though ideally, you should aim for custom visuals.
We can all do better than AI images and stock photos for our websites. No one wants the first thing someone sees on a website to be that one guy who seems to be in every stock photo campaign.
Reason 2: AI Photos Can Feel a Bit Fake
We’ve all seen an AI image that just gets the details wrong — too many fingers, not enough fingers, weird eyes, or everyone has the same face. So, if you’re not careful with vetting the AI images after they’ve been created, you might miss these details that might be glaring to your audience.
Aside from detail issues, AI website content and images are just plain derivatives. In the same way that all AI-written blogs sound the same (or at least very similar), most quickly created AI images have the same vibe.
Reason 3: AI Website Content Can Tank Your Search Rankings
AI-generated images can present serious SEO challenges, and here’s why: search engines love unique, optimized content, and AI images don’t have that essential originality. Google’s algorithms are sharp—they can identify duplicate or overly generic content, including visuals. They have to be. If Google only serves up derivative content, its business suffers.
So, if you rely on AI-generated photos that sometimes appear on multiple sites, you compete against yourself in the search rankings.
Unique, high-quality images are key to search engine optimization (SEO). Properly optimized images with relevant file names, alt text, and descriptions can improve your website’s visibility.
Let’s face it—Google doesn’t love bland. Neither do your visitors.
Reason 4: It Muddles Your Brand’s Unique Vibe
AI-generated images can significantly dilute your brand’s visual identity. Unlike custom visuals that capture the essence of your brand, AI images fail to reflect your brand’s voice and personality. This can result in visuals that feel out of place or inconsistent with your established aesthetic. When your brand’s visual elements don’t align with its core identity, it weakens the emotional connection with your audience and makes your brand appear fragmented.
Maintaining a cohesive visual identity is crucial for building trust and recognition. Every image on your website should consistently represent your brand’s style and mood. AI-generated, often generic, and mass-produced website content can clash with your carefully crafted brand aesthetic. This inconsistency sends mixed signals to your audience, undermining the connection you’ve worked hard to establish. Consistency in your visuals reinforces your brand’s identity and fosters greater loyalty and trust among your audience.
Reason 5: Using AI Photos is Playing Reputation Roulette
AI-generated images come with significant ethical concerns. First, AI can perpetuate biases in its training data, potentially reinforcing harmful stereotypes or underrepresenting certain groups. This can damage your brand’s reputation and alienate audiences.
There are also copyright issues to consider. AI creates images by drawing on existing content, which can blur the line between inspiration and plagiarism. If an AI-generated image closely resembles a copyrighted piece, you risk facing legal challenges.
Additionally, relying on AI for visuals can undermine human creativity and artistry. By opting for AI-generated content, you may unintentionally devalue the work of artists, designers, and photographers, impacting their livelihoods. Supporting human-created content nurtures creativity and sustains a thriving artistic community. The ethical cost of using AI-generated images is one that brands should carefully consider.
Reason 6: Missing the Context of Your Brand
A major drawback of AI-generated images is their lack of context. AI cannot interpret the nuances and tone of your brand like a human designer can. While it can generate images based on prompts, it often misses the deeper meaning and intent behind your brand’s message.
For example, if a wellness brand seeks to convey peace and tranquility but receives chaotic or irrelevant AI-generated images, it can confuse and alienate the audience. A serene yoga scene might be replaced by martial arts images in a jungle, disrupting the brand’s message and damaging its identity.
Ultimately, human insight is needed for brand alignment and emotional resonance. Without understanding the full context, AI-generated images can miss the mark, leading to visuals that fail to connect with your audience or even create confusion.
Reason 7: AI Can’t Tug at Your Heartstrings
AI-generated visuals often feel soulless and lifeless, without the emotional depth needed to connect with viewers truly. Your images should evoke genuine emotions such as excitement, trust, or warmth. For instance, a photo of real friends laughing in a café captures authentic, subtle details that an AI-generated image may miss. AI struggles to replicate the genuine warmth of a shared moment.
Human-created images, whether through custom photography or artist-designed visuals, offer authenticity that fosters engagement and builds trust. Without this emotional connection, AI-generated visuals risk being forgettable.
Reason 8: Flexibility Falls Flat
AI-generated images may look impressive initially but aren’t as flexible and adaptable as needed for various uses. Unlike custom visuals, AI images are typically designed for a single purpose, making them difficult to modify for different contexts like banner ads, social media posts, or email campaigns.
For example, resizing or adjusting an AI image to fit different formats can be challenging, as these images don’t have the layers and flexibility of custom graphics. They also struggle to meet nuanced brand guidelines, such as color schemes or visual hierarchies, leading to visuals that may appear inconsistent across marketing channels.
Reason 9: AI-Generated Images Can Be a Snooze
AI-generated website content may serve a purpose, but creativity is what makes content memorable. AI relies on existing data, mimicking established patterns and aesthetics rather than innovating. This means AI visuals can feel uninspired and fail to push creative boundaries.
In contrast, human-created art brings emotion, experience, and unique vision to the table. Artists infuse their work with storytelling and a personal touch that AI cannot replicate. Iconic visual campaigns typically come from human creativity, not machines.
While AI can produce adequate visuals, there’s no originality to set its website content apart. For your brand to truly stand out, you need visuals with genuine creativity and emotional resonance—qualities that AI struggles to deliver.
Reason 10: User Experience Woes
AI-generated images may look appealing initially but can negatively impact user experience. Effective website visuals should guide users seamlessly, ensuring clarity and usability. However, AI images can be abstract, unclear, or contextually mismatched, leading to confusion and potentially frustrating users.
For instance, an AI-generated image might fail to convey the nuances of a product feature, creating a disconnect between user expectations and what they see. This misalignment can disrupt the user journey, causing frustration or even site abandonment. On a website, clarity is crucial for helping users navigate and understand content.
Human-designed visuals, on the other hand, enhance user experience by offering intuitive guidance and reinforcing site structure. Well-crafted visuals align with user expectations and support effective navigation, leading to a more engaging and positive experience. AI images often fall short in this regard, increasing the risk of user confusion and disengagement.
But you mentioned fun?
Quirky Experimentation
AI-generated images have their moments of brilliance, especially in quirky experimentation! If you’re aiming to surprise or entertain your audience with something unconventional, AI can add an unexpected twist. For lighthearted campaigns or offbeat visuals, AI can create images that feel spontaneous and novel. Whether for a playful landing page or a social media stunt, AI’s quirks can bring a refreshing element of surprise.
Quick Turnaround for Low-Stakes Projects
Additionally, AI can be a quick and efficient solution for low-stakes projects. For internal presentations, placeholders, or content where speed matters more than creativity, AI offers a fast way to generate visuals. When you need images in a hurry and don’t have the luxury of a full design process, AI provides a cost-effective option to produce polished content quickly.
The Fingers
Sometimes it’s fun just to see how many fingers AI will put on a hand. One time, I generated an image of a soccer team putting their hands together for a “go team” chant. In the center of the pile of hands was what can only be described as the hand of a 240-year-old witch who doesn’t believe in the age-restoring power of lotion.
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