Ok being completely transparent here because i think more designers do this than admit it
i use chatgpt to write the first draft of my portfolio case study descriptions. not the design work obviously - that’s 100% mine. but the written narratives around the work? the “challenge, process, solution, results” sections? yeah i use AI to draft those and then heavily edit them
my reasoning: im a designer not a writer. my strength is visual problem solving not crafting compelling paragraphs. the case studies exist to EXPLAIN my design work, and if AI helps me articulate my thinking more clearly, isnt that just… a tool?
but heres where it gets ethically messy:
- in school: can teachers tell when you use ai for written components of design projects? maybe, maybe not. how to spot ai writing is getting harder as the tools improve. but should you use it for academic submissions? probably not
- professionally: is it deceptive to present AI-drafted text in your portfolio? you wrote the ideas and did the work, the AI just helped you express it
- in interviews: if someone asks about your portfolio and you cant articulate what the AI wrote for you… thats a problem
how to tell if a writing is ai generated honestly depends on how much you edit it. if you just dump chatgpt output raw into your portfolio, yeah experienced readers can spot it. the telltale signs: overly structured paragraphs, generic transitional phrases, that slightly-too-polished quality. but if you rewrite 60-70% of it in your own voice? very hard to detect
so whats the consensus? is using chatgpt for portfolio writeups a smart use of tools or a red flag about authenticity? genuinely want honest opinions