With so much talk about AI right now, here’s something really worth noting.

AI IS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR HUMAN LED CREATIVITY.

We need to resist the temptation to let AI do all the thinking, because understanding the “why” is critical to success. Mindlessly asking AI to produce something such as a brand, bypasses the humanistic process which uncovers the essence of what makes a brand feel truly alive.

Any design school worth its salt teaches the critical creative process of generating ideas that produce eureka moments. I like to think of this process as connecting three or more insights from research and brainstorming, which when married together, will create the unique DNA for a product, campaign or brand.

As creatives, before we begin the design process, we embark on a strategic process to understand why we are doing what we are doing. This is a sensitive process that requires a lot of verbal engagement between ourselves and our clients.

We think of computers as the tools used to further develop our human-led ideas, and not the source to come up with them. In fact, us designers teach a funny little phrase called GOFC, or “GET OFF THE F**KING COMPUTER!” This encourages us to start the creative process with conversation, thinking, sketching, and experimenting, which can produce wonderful ideas that help us generate authentic and meaningful outcomes.

It’s important to remember, AI is machine learning, which means it’s pulling content from existing ideas. In fact, I recently experimented with some AI artwork generation using Midjourney and was surprised to see that some of the artworks produced included an artist’s signature in the bottom right corner. In the process of pulling content to create my AI art, it had pulled an artist’s signature from an original source!

This will open an interesting new chapter in copyright law, and I am intrigued to see how that plays out. Perhaps offenders will use ChatGPT to mount a legal defence! Perhaps ChatGPT will win! Who knows?

My prediction for the future is, as machines take over much of our professional day-to-day lives, we as humans will crave authentic human interactions. We’ll be fine with our computers automating our work life, doing more, more efficiently, and while it will also influence our social lives, we as social beings will place more value on authentic human interactions. So restaurants, festivals and events – real-life experiences, the experience economy, will boom as a result.

In summary, my advice is to use AI to improve your work, but not to generate it, and that is what will give you the edge.

Article by Lloyd Seymour, Creative Director, Map Creative.