On October 1, I took part in the discussion panel “Artificial Intelligence, Education and Graphic Design,” organized by the Escuela Superior de Comunicación Social y Diseño Gráfico and the Escuela de Industrias Gráficas de Montevideo.
The auditorium at EIG, a beautiful venue I had never visited before, gradually filled with young students between the ages of 18 and 30, studying fields such as journalism, graphic design, offset printing and screen printing, alongside teachers from both schools and members of the public.
I was invited to participate as president of the CDU (Uruguay’s Chamber of Design). I began my design training more than 25 years ago while working in a small family-run print shop. I then worked for several companies in the graphic arts and advertising industries before founding CAPUT Studio in 2011.
My talk focused on the evolving role of designers in the age of AI: moving from being mere executors focused on tools to becoming strategic partners focused on the comprehensive development of brands and products.
Technological advances have always challenged the way things are done. Human evolution has been shaped by these advances, from the development of our earliest rudimentary tools and objects to the present day. From prehistoric cave paintings to a prompt that generates an incredible image or animation.
Every technological revolution transforms trades and professions. Some adapt and reinvent themselves; others disappear. This is what is known as Creative Destruction.
With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, the first “book designers” emerged. Industrialization in the 18th and 19th centuries gave rise to advertising, the design of early posters and the development of new visual languages. By the late 19th century, the Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau and, later, the avant-garde movements helped establish graphic design as a conscious discipline.
In the 20th century, from the 1920s to the 1940s, the Bauhaus, Constructivism and New Typography introduced the idea of design as a system. The 1970s brought postmodernism and experimentation.
From the 1990s onward, computers became widespread, and design software radically transformed the profession. In the 2000s, the internet turned us into digital designers. Between 2010 and 2023, the focus progressively shifted from individual design pieces to identity systems, UX/UI and brand experiences.
In 2023, generative AI arrived and began changing everything once again. Designers are no longer simply the people who produce visual assets. Increasingly, their role is to define problems, concepts, systems, criteria and creative direction.
Looking back at history, we can see that technology has not eliminated designers. Instead, it has shifted the point in the process where designers create real value.
The goal of my message was, and still is, to give hope to young people and to everyone who believes AI will make us disappear.
We need to adapt and reinvent ourselves. We need to become strategists. We need to nurture critical thinking, analytical skills and a creative mindset.
Federico Boga
CEO & Founder, CAPUT Studio
President, Uruguay Chamber of Design (CDU), 2026–2027
