How AI Is Unlocking the Floodgates of Human Creativity

For most people in the creative industry, Artificial Intelligence can be an anxiety-inducing topic. 

Generative AI is improving every day and the question remains on everyone's lips: will AI become more creative than humans? Will creative jobs soon be obsolete? Will organizations still require creative agencies or brand marketers?

This article explores the impact of AI on the creative process and how we stand at the forefront of a cultural revolution of bolder ideas and more positive employee and customer experiences.

AI VS. Creativity

Humans and AI are often pitted against each other. Goldman Sachs predicts 300 million jobs will be lost or impacted by AI by 2033. And as seen in the recent Buzzfeed writer layoffs or the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike - organisations are pivoting to AI to take over the creative process to cut costs.

However, organisations that want a competitive advantage should take a balanced approach to implementing AI.

In the future, when AI handles most of the workload, humans will face the dilemma of having spare time. Throughout history, time surplus has often resulted in cultural growth fueled by curiosity, imagination, and innovation. Therefore, AI will likely propel a modern creative renaissance with more art, music, literature, and academic progress. Hence, AI and creativity do not have to exclude one another. Instead of denying AI or humans in the creative process, organizations and creatives alike should ask themselves: 

How can AI help us work more efficiently to allow us more space to create?

A recent Forbes survey highlights various ways agencies can use AI to enhance productivity and streamline processes - from storyboarding ideas to supporting brainstorming, copy, and visual concepts, creating raw drafts for humans to play around with and adapt before final publishing. Even analysing data sets to automate time-consuming personalisation tasks across high-volume marketing campaigns.

By removing repetitive, time-consuming, and boring tasks, AI allows creatives and marketers more time to tap into their humanity and imagination - and the freedom to deliver bolder and more personalized campaigns faster. 

Even ChatGPT thinks so - I asked her if human creativity will be replaced by AI and she gave an intriguing answer:

"AI is unlikely to replace human creativity but has the potential to enhance it by providing tools, insights, and assistance to human creatives. There are aspects of creativity deeply rooted in human experiences, emotions, and intuition, which are currently beyond the reach of AI"

One thing is clear: human creativity remains unmatched no matter how refined AI technology becomes. If agencies and marketers hope to stay competitive, they must commit to understanding how AI and humans can join hands to create better internal processes and customer experiences. 

If history is anything to go by - the way work is done will continue to change due to technological advancement, but it will always be driven by our creativity.