Everyone is talking about Al (Artificial Intelligence) - good and not-so-good but, what might it be its impact on print, signage and packaging? Adam Page, VP of Reports at Smithers, looks at the drivers and trends in the use of AI in our industry.
AI data centres could account for 10% of global energy usage by 2030
Adam Page's predictions form part of Smithers 'Post-drupa Technology Forecast for Print and Printed Packaging to 2034,' which is available for purchase from this organisation.
The first big wave of predictive AI hit the public’s consciousness in 2023 with the appearance of ChatGPT. Suddenly, the power of machine learning was in everyone’s hands. In 2024, the second wave introduced generative AI, allowing users to create a greater variety content (including video, graphics, music and so on), and make better conversation engines to interact with humans. As a result, social media saw a surge of AI-produced content. Now, in 2025, we are seeing the start of the third wave: agentic AI (meaning psychological state where a person gives up their autonomy to an authority) - the proactive and autonomous solving of complex, multi-step problems. With its greater reasoning powers, agentic AI is less likely to suffer the 'hallucinations, that plagued earlier versions of ChatGPT, although it is still at a relatively early stage of development.
These incredible leaps might seem like something from science fiction, but in reality AI is already an integral part of modern print and packaging businesses. It is used for activities including creation, estimating, deciding the most appropriate prepress color management and imposition schemes, and planning print jobs to optimize continuous production. It is also a key component of autonomous machinery, helping management make real-time decisions based on machine output feedback. The increasing digitization of the printing industry is a factor in the adoption of AI. 
Smithers' Adam Page
However, this is only the beginning. Based on new research, including interviews across the value chain, Smithers has identified major emerging applications for AI in the printing and packaging markets. A full summary of this research was published in the Smithers white paper: 5 Ways Generative AI Will Transform Packaging by 2030.
Speed to market is increasing, driven by more personalization and promotions, shorter runs, regional/smaller brands, more channels to market, consumer convenience, and the ability to quickly follow trends from the social media world. This is putting huge pressure on brands, retailers, and suppliers across the packaging value chain - including graphic and packaging designers. Today, generative AI can struggle with basic packaging terms (it is excellent at replicating cartoons or celebrities as there is a lot of available data). This is changing as massive performance improvements are allowing AI to become a powerful tool for getting customized products to market faster. While human creativity will still be needed to reduce risks of plagiarism, brands and their packaging/graphic designers have many more additional inputs to work with, including deeper and richer consumer research, live data on product performance and insights on regional or micro preferences.
Designs need to be two-fold - POS and online
There is huge potential for AI combining with digital print to enable fast failure and rapid scale up. Brands are seeking two designs: a retail shelf version and the e-commerce version. The retail shelf version needs to provide quick and clear information, the e-commerce version brings a rewarding opening experience and makes the consumer feel good that they made the right decision. Supporting the packaging is the design work for the display units, which varies for different promotions or shows regional differences. Previously, the supporting POS or point of purchase material might have been generic, but will now become much more visible on the shelf.
There are many applications today behind the scenes that make processes more effective. AI is helping manage the stock holding at key locations to ensure the delivery of products within 24 hours (micro fulfilment centers) and reducing the amount of material needed in the packaging for shipment. While packaging is already highly automated, AI is further accelerating the use of robots to optimize palletization and stacking.
AI can help better forecast demand and monitor risks to mitigate disruptions. This includes dynamic negotiations with suppliers, the development of partnerships and alliances (e.g. two brands sharing the same truck for shipments), and fast confirmation/approvals with regulatory bodies. Growing use of better and more human-like conversation engines will have a huge impact on many industries, including print and packaging.
The drupa software watershed - just the beginning
Software and automation are big drivers for the adoption of AI. In many ways, drupa 2024 will be remembered as the software drupa. Of the 10 most significant drupa developments identified by Smithers in our new report Post-drupa Technology Forecast for Print and Printed Packaging to 2034, six are directly software enabled.
Across all print supply chains, software is critical in receiving orders, producing artwork and print, finishing, and dispatch. This dependence on software will increase over the next five to ten years.
Over the past few drupas, the role of software has largely been to aid productivity improvements for design, prepress, print and finishing equipment, and job management through the supply chain. Today, software is connecting supply chains for print and printed packaging. The business models of many print and packaging manufacturers have changed significantly since the previous drupa in 2016, as companies and supply chains have digitised. Online selling, links to material and outsourced service providers, communication with equipment vendors to optimize performance, warehousing and dispatch is common.
The breath and scale of possible applications is staggering. While there has been much hype and some scare stories, AI has the potential to impact society in many ways. Smithers works with companies across the printing and packaging value chains to understand the impact of disruptive technologies - it is clear that AI is set to transform our industries over the next decade, and the story is only just beginning.
