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. 

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