Design platform says ‘human element’ needed by AI tools, funds $200M compensation program for creators
MANILA, Philippines — Design giant Canva is doubling down on the use of artificial intelligence in creative endeavors with the release of an all-in-one suite called "Magic Studio", yet it maintains its stance that AI technology is still powered by the "human element".
“We think there’s absolutely still the human element that injects the creativity, injects the idea and very importantly, is the one with the goal that they’re trying to achieve,” said Melanie Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva.
Acknowledging the importance of creators and designers behind AI knowledge, Canva announced a $200 million commitment in content and AI royalties to be paid to the company’s creator community over the next three years.
The Creator Compensation Program will pay Canva Creators who consent to have their content used to train the company’s proprietary AI models.
Moreover, Canva will provide creators the choice to opt out of their data being used for training purposes. Creators who opt into training AI models on their existing content will receive an initial payment followed by monthly payment for continued use.
AI design tools in one studio
The newly launched Magic Studio houses the app’s existing and new AI-powered features in one place to streamline user workflows and eliminate the need for juggling multiple tools and software applications.
“The AI scene is incredibly fragmented right now and we see an immense amount of value in bringing that fragmented landscape into the one tool,” co-founder and chief product officer Cameron Adams said.
The design company exemplifies this approach through the Magic Switch feature, a tool that instantly transforms designs into entirely different formats, complete with layout adjustments and text rewriting.
Complementing the AI features launched earlier this year, the web-based design company strengthened its Magic Write copywriting assistant with Brand Voice, and also added three new capabilities for AI-powered image editing: Magic Morph, Magic Grab and Magic Expand.
Similar to the highly-talked-about capability of competitor Adobe Firefly, Canva is keeping up with its generative fill capabilities through Magic Expand, which can fix awkward framing, expand zoomed-in images, or turn a vertical shot into a horizontal by using AI to fill in what’s beyond the border.
Amid artists’ pushback versus various image generators, the company has also improved its Magic Media feature for text-to-image generation with a wide range of new style options for results. Videos can now also be created from images or text using Gen-2, a video-generation AI model by Runway.
Moreover, the platform’s new app marketplace brought a library of partner-made AI apps, making AI-powered design tools including Dall-E, Imagen by Google, MurfAI, Soundraw and more, all available in one place.
Fear of being obsolete?
AI has generated increasing controversy and fear in recent months as its capabilities continue to advance, encroaching upon tasks that were traditionally performed by humans.
According to a recent Gallup survey in the United States, more workers are expressing concern that rapidly evolving technology could soon make their jobs obsolete.
The survey data shows that the fear of technology replacing jobs has risen by seven percentage points since 2021, now affecting 22% of American workers.
Despite these concerns, Canva maintains the belief that its AI-powered platform can never fully replace human creativity and capability. Instead, Canva sees AI as a tool that can 'supercharge people toward their goals' by automating repetitive tasks that would otherwise consume hours of their time.
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