Adobe Max attendees are getting tired of the relentless focus on AI

Adobe Max 2024 comes to an end today, and some designers are wondering what it was that they just attended. As always, the creative software giant's annual creativity conference featured launches of new tools in Creative Cloud programs along with glimpses of experimental features in development and inspiration from creatives. But some feel that this year there was less of the latter, and far too much focus on Adobe's generative AI model, Firefly.

Adobe announced a bunch of new Firefly AI-powered tools at Adobe Max, including the launch of the Firefly AI video model with Generative Extend in Premiere Pro along with Enhanced Image Trace in Illustrator. But while mention of AI tools is inevitable, some attendees seem to have got tired of the constant focus, with some arguing that the new tools aren't as impressive or useful as Adobe seems to think (see the video summary below for some of the announcements).

"Every keynote, every breakout session, every lab, every opportunity they get, someone pushes Firefly and some new AI capabilities. It is overwhelming to the point where I think it's a red flag how much they are talking about it," one designer who attended Adobe Max wrote in the graphic design subreddit. "I understand they need to do damage control because of the bad Press that AI has, but this is too much, man. This is an expensive conference to be at, I want to learn something while I'm here and all they can talk about is AI," they added.

Over a hundred people have responded, and almost all of them agree. "It’s honestly just BORING for a creativity conference," one person wrote, adding: "There’s only so many times you can watch someone type in a prompt and cheer for how well they wrote it. It’s dull!" "It’s not a design conference anymore. It’s an AI conference," someone else wrote.

Adobe Max, man... from r/graphic_design

Some lament Adobe's increasing focus on non-designers and a lack of pro tools and updates in areas like workflow management. "I think Adobe is making a mistake in catering solely to the whizz-bang crowd," one person wrote. "They should be trying to be the DeWalt or Makita of pro design toolkits, not the Harbor Freight weekend DIYer brand. It's corporate enterprise accounts that keep them afloat, so why all the focus on impressing the 'I just learned Canva' kids?"

"Couldn't agree more," another person wrote. "The only thing Adobe's generative fill is decent for is generating backgrounds or basically being an (admittedly vastly) improved clone-stamp. But use it to add anything to an image and it's a horrorshow. That shit got prioritized over AI denoise or upscaling? Insane."

Some blame investors, suggesting that Adobe needs to show flashy features to keep investors happy and the stock price up. Others feel that Adobe is trying to cut out designers completely, seeing them as 'middlemen' between its software and clients. Some blame is also put on the failed attempt to buy Figma and panic amid the rise in the popularity of amateur tools like Canva. You can see a summary of Day One of Adobe Max 2024 below.

Several attendees highlighted Aaron Draplin's Old Dogs New Tricks talk as a refreshing break from the focus on AI. "It was so refreshing because he is so normal and realistic and more analog driven about design. It was incredible refreshing after that AI driven keynote," one person wrote.

"Even after watching the 'hype' keynote on all of the new AI capabilities I still envision myself ultimately not using any of them," another designer wrote, adding: "I couldn’t help but roll my eyes yesterday during the keynote because all the capabilities the individual designers were showing off ultimately just ended up in a finished product that just looked and felt AI. I simply can’t be excited about that kind of art."

"They need to see people are using it and that it becomes part of our workflow otherwise its all wasted money for them," one person suggested. "99.9% of working designers have no reason to use it other than for extending a canvas," someone else argued. "It’s a massive waste of time and money. Especially considering they’re so far behind Midjourney in development. They are the Apple Music to Spotify. Too little too late."

One the one hand, the big focus on AI tools at Adobe Max is inevitable. Adobe has always used the conference to plug its products despite the fact that most attendees already use them. It's a way to show users that it's worth sticking with the Adobe suite because it's constantly being updated, with more features on the way. And in recent years, AI has been the driving force between many of the most notable new features in flagship programs like Photoshop. However, the reaction suggests that Adobe needs to make sure it's listening to what its traditional pro users want, which isn't all AI-related.