How will AI change creativity?

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How will AI change creativity?

The rise in consumer-ready generative AI tools seems unending. When launched, DALL-E gained 1 million users in just 2.5 months. But as the hype already seems to be fading, the long term implications of AI for creative industries are unclear.

Anthony Stimola, Design Director & Strategy (Wells Fargo, IDEO, SY Partners)

"It’s unclear as it’s so early in the development of the platforms, but I’m optimistic as there is still so much to play with and test. Remember, designers and creatives alike rejected the introduction of the PC in the early days. Ultimately AI will not change creativity, but it will change how we engage with our creativity. The delta between idea inception and execution will be greatly reduced, and I think that scares people. But much like any tech upgrades in the creative space, it will, in time, demand a higher bar of execution. For example, I can imagine feedback rounds may sound a bit different. Feedback like "add the words only upper body of hyper-realistic character, fantasy scene, cybernetic augmentations, portrait and 4K to the prompt, and up-level option 2 & 4 :)"

Laura Kelley, Senior Copywriter (Square, Character, R/GA)

"I see AI as another tool we can use — it won’t replace our creativity, but, I think it can definitely help to inspire us."

"Remember, designers and creatives alike rejected the introduction of the PC in the early days. Ultimately AI will not change creativity, but it will change how we engage with our creativity."

Anthony Stimola

For some, the growth in generative AI is a positive force which will help us learn as creatives. It is not yet capable of what mathematics professor Marcus du Sautoy, terms ‘transformational creativity’ (creating imagery in an entirely novel style) but its power in ‘combinational creativity’ (creating novel images which mimic others) can help us unlock new ways of working.

Pip Bingemann, Co-Founder & Strategist (Unstoppable, Trilingual, Ikon)

"AI is already changing creativity. From copywriting, to novels, music, social posts and influencers. It is quickly becoming a tool for creativity, and those that learn to work with it, and understand how to guide it, will create better work faster."

"AI is a digital instrument that will break any creative block and accelerate creativity"

Mel Zahar

Barney Fagan, Motion Designer (Minute Books, A LINE, Koto)

"Personally, I can see AI making creativity more conceptual and process based. AI has the ability to quickly create aesthetic output meaning creatives can think about what they want to make and why rather than focusing on crafting it."

Sina Mossayeb, Chief Design & Product Officer (Medable, Expa, Ideo)

"I think AI can be an incredibly powerful tool for creatives to materialize and explore ideas faster. It can both be used for both discovery, and to inspire."

"From copywriting to novels, music, social posts and influencers, those that learn to work with it will create better work faster."

Pip Bingemann

Mel Zahar, Art Director (Apple, Nike, Tesla)

"I've been through many different thoughts since the early beginning of it, positive and negative, but what I really think right now after seeing super creative artists using it recently, is "AI is a digital instrument that will break any creative block and accelerate creativity." I really think eventually more creatives will realize this if they begin to explore their own vision or style."

"AI has the ability to quickly create aesthetic output meaning creatives can focus on what they want to make, and why."

Barney Fagan

And for agencies, the removed ‘drudgery’ of certain tasks comes with the promise of greater creative freedom and energy.

Chester Chipperfield, Co-founder & Angel Investor (Fabric, Tesla, Burberry)

"AI will fundamentally change the process, from brief to output. It will remove menial tasks and will change the role of an agency to one of briefing, curation, advising, and high-level creative direction. The tools available to in-house teams will mean agencies will have to work harder to prove their worth, leading to leaner, more flexible agencies."

Nicole Jiang, Director of Product (Abnormal Security, Palantir, Cerby)

"AI presents an exciting and unprecedented path for unbounded imagination. This technology opens up a new era for anyone, but especially the creatives to further push their envelopes and bring their visions to reality."

"Using AI, my work is shifting from producing content to curating it, which allows me to focus on the bigger strategic picture and the success of the business."

Kateryna Romanova

Mackenzie Pringle, Senior Designer (CashApp, Robinhood, A LINE)

"AI has already changed creativity. Algorithms serve us targeted content on a daily basis. This affects the creative process both knowingly and unknowingly."

Elliott Moody, Founder & Managing Director (The Brand Identity)

"Creativity in its purest form comes from the mind. AI isn't going to change creativity. But it will be interesting to see what role it plays in the creative industries. I've so far found it useful for improving grammar in an article we've written, or making an email more concise, things like that. We should embrace it as an assistant. But will it ever do the creative work for us? To the standard we as an industry can do it? Not so sure."

Kateryna Romanova, Associate Director, Design & Concept Development (Juxtapose)

"I see AI as an additional dimension of creativity. Technology has always enabled new work that wouldn't have been possible before, but this time feels different. With AI, creatives are increasingly becoming conductors and curators of tools that generate new artifacts from scratch. I already use AI as my personal creative assistant, to write quick copy, create product mockups, and visual assets. My work is shifting from producing content to curating it, which allows me to focus on the bigger strategic picture and the success of the business."

Chester Chipperfield

The idea of AI as a new creative ‘collaborator’ is appealing to some. But in order to work effectively with these new tools in a non-superficial way, brands will need to ensure that they still have a clear point of view, and a strong conceptual rationale.

Victoria Sun, VP & GM, CMO, Founder (Curology, Amazon, Wharton)

"The potential of AI to generate compelling, even inspired output is incredible, but, a strong brand needs cohesion and a point of view. I think in the near future, the winners will be those companies that creatively use AI, rather than trying to make AI a substitute for human creativity."

Brandi Steele, Art Director & Designer (Pinterest, Airbnb, LuluLemon)

"I wouldn’t necessarily say “change” creativity, but rather expand it. If we utilize AI in early moments of creative process, there is potential for it to help open the mind, or even alleviate simple, tedious tasks. If AI is treated as a “friend”, someone to ask questions or test theories, then there is a lot we can learn from it."

And for some, it will ultimately be the humans collaborating with AI, and not the machines who will be capable of achieving truly ‘transformational creativity’.

Ken Frederick, Creative Director & Technologist (Google, Frog Design)

"Creative innovation stems from the marriage of ideas and tools. Painters like Cy Twombly and Ed Clark would alter their physical tools to create a new genre of paintings. Similarly, computers enabled design tools like Photoshop and digital publishing, which empowered the antics of April Greiman and David Carson. AI will empower creatives of all disciplines with the ability to augment their expertise, scaling their abilities beyond the confines of themselves, much like a carpenter uses jigs to augment their tools. This not only has direct implications for creative outputs but also for the scale at which lone individuals will be able to compete with larger creative organizations."

"AI can be used to generate inspiration and ideas that may serve as a starting point for human creativity to flourish. And maybe one day, AI will be able to give feedback and critique your design work?!"

Selim Cherif

Lian Han, Global Design Director, Retail (Nike)

"What we're starting to see beyond just AI-generated content, is bringing AI forward in commerce experiences. This is one of the big opportunities as we look ahead at where AI is heading. There are major investments across the tech and fashion landscape into AI powered search engines, automated shopping experiences and personalized styling. With technologies like Midjourney, ChatGPT, Bard, this format of open AI feeding will soon evolve to new input / output models that are more deeply embedded in existing and new experiences."

Selim Cherif, Design Director (Pelago, Meta)

"I think AI has the potential to significantly change the way creativity is approached within a business in general. One of the key ways it can do this is by automating repetitive tasks and allowing creative professionals to focus on more high-level, strategic work. It’s also important to note that AI is a tool. It cannot replace human creativity, but it can enhance it. AI can be used to generate inspiration and ideas that may serve as a starting point for human creativity to flourish. And maybe one day, AI would be able to give feedback and critique your design work?!"

ChatGPT

"AI will augment human creativity by providing tools and assistance in idea generation, content creation, and collaboration, while also raising ethical concerns about originality and ownership. It has the potential to democratize creativity by making creative tools more accessible to a wider audience, and inspire new creative possibilities by analyzing vast amounts of data, but striking a balance between human creativity and AI-generated content will be crucial."

FUTURE INSIGHTS

AI is a creative tool and not a replacement for human agency.

The capabilities of AI to streamline creative processes are profound.

Working with AI tools effectively requires a clear creative purpose.

Although the hype is fading, the long term implications of AI are still unclear.