Affinity's free gambit could shatter Adobe (but if it doesn't, that tells us a lot)

A close-up screenshot of a photo editing program interface showing a young man holding a bundle of white flowers above his head against a blue sky, with a drop-down menu for Canva AI features, including Remove Background, open at the top.

Here's the moment of truth. Affinity has just made one of the best Photoshop alternatives completely free. Proper professional creative software with photo editing, vector design and page layout. Which means Creative Cloud subscriptions could start haemorrhaging faster than a punctured hot air balloon. This should be Adobe's nightmare scenario. Or… it might not change anything. Let me explain.

I reckon Affinity's bold move is going to reveal something fascinating about us: whether we've become so dependent on AI features that we literally can't work without them any more. Even though half of us spent the last two years complaining about them.