Trying to discuss anything to do with AI (artificial intelligence) feels like trying to hug a tornado. There is a presence that seems as poised to transform society as thoroughly as the internet itself. And the rate of development ensures that my thoughts on this will probably be obsolete by the time I’ve finished this sentence.
With that said (at least in terms of AI’s effect in my field), I feel like there is much more to be excited about than to fear at this moment—and that’s coming from a design professional of 20+ years.
For many of you, the term “AI and Creativity” likely sounds like an oxymoron. Like you, I was tempted to minimize and laugh off the onslaught of AI. I’ve all but gamified the identification of AI-generated imagery. Things like an odd number of fingers on a human hand are easy enough to spot, but I took comfort in looking at how AI would define the meetings of walls and ceilings in the corner of a room, for example. It was obvious that AI could create an interesting image, but like a kindergartner, it could reference form without understanding space.
But that was a year ago. Now, it feels like AI is in high school, and the concerns about it finding our proverbial car keys or getting into the liquor cabinet are getting more pronounced. All that to say, it’s quite clear that ignoring AI will not be an effective path forward for any of us.
Professionally, I’ve finally started to come to terms with what that represents.
With Power Comes Pitfalls—and Potential
Steve Jobs is often connected to the quote, “The computer is like a bicycle for the mind.” For the record, I don’t think he said that. But to push the analogy along, I’ve come to view AI as more like a motorcycle.
It can get you where you want to go at a rate of speed that is physically unsettling. Aspects of our work that once took many people several days can now happen in moments. But like riding a motorcycle, the opportunities to find yourself suddenly lying maimed in a ditch are also more likely than ever.
Considering this, I think being an experienced rider right now is crucial. Anyone can now jump on and give the throttle a twist, but AI will only go where you tell it to. And good results are only possible if you intimately know what that destination should be like.
Understanding the Rules of the (Artificial Intelligence) Road
Right now, you can thoroughly jumpstart the creative process with AI through planning activities like market and audience research, but beyond that, the waters tend to get quite deep very quickly. For example, the murky ethics of image generation are obvious.
Let’s return to our motorcycle analogy for a second, though. I think two things are important:
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Knowing Your Fuel Source
Firing up Chat GPT is like putting Granddad’s moonshine in your tank. The results can’t be trusted because we don’t know the quality of what’s being burned. An experienced AI practitioner knows that we need to distill that fuel a few times before we try to run on it.
As a practical example: with a client’s brand standards and tone of voice documentation—as well as some vetted writing samples in hand—we can build a discreet AI model that can reliably produce a first draft of copy that, while not press-ready, is absolutely compliant and useful. Sure, it takes effort to set it up. But once that’s done, it really is the fastest way to travel.
That brings us to my second point.
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Distinguishing Pitstops from Your Destination
When you think about your goals for a marketing project as a destination, we all know there aren’t any real shortcuts. AI can get us way down the road, possibly faster than we’ve ever been able to traverse those distances before. But taking AI results to be finished products is like presenting a gas station burrito as fine dining.
The place we really want to go is not a convenient stop at the side of the road. Eventually, we’ll have to park our bike on the shoulder and hike for a while if we want to find a place with a view.
As a tool for our industry, AI still needs real people to give it quite a bit of deft guidance. And whatever it produces absolutely requires human effort and experience to ensure that the finished product can meet our standards of quality and performance.
At the very least, adopting AI within our creative processes will undoubtedly take us places previously time-consuming (and expensive) to reach alone. And as a creative professional, I can unabashedly say that those are places I’m excited to explore.
But, as tempted as I might be to charge around every blind bend and blast over unseen horizons while letting the wind blow through my hair—for now, at least, I’m keeping my helmet on and packing my hiking boots.
