Artificial Intelligence has transitioned from an idea about the future and is now a significant force shaping various industries, including the creative sector. It may still feel futuristic to some, but I know from first-hand experience that it is very much happening now.
For many, many people AI’s integration into our daily lives and workspaces has become as routine as a Google search.
The Normalisation of AI
AI’s influence is evident across many sectors. From healthcare to finance, marketing to logistics, AI-driven solutions are streamlining processes, enhancing decision-making and creating new opportunities. The normalisation of AI is comparable to the early days of the internet, or touch-screen phones where initial scepticism gradually gave way to widespread adoption.
“You Won’t Lose Your Job to AI. You’ll Lose Your Job to Someone Using AI” is a multi-attributed quote that gets bandied around but the reality is that in many cases we won’t lose our jobs to people using AI, we will simply each adopt AI at varying rates depending on company culture and industry.
In fact, many reports and theories suggest this type of technology can stimulate job markets in the long run rather than destroy them. Sure, the specific job titles and roles may be different in the future but it is hard to tell whether there will actually be less jobs as a lot of people fear there might be.
For me and teams I work with, we are using AI tools every day in various ways, some deeper than others. Here are some of our use cases that you might find useful.
Content Creation
Generative AI tools like DALL-E, Midjourney, Leonardo, Firefly and ChatGPT have revolutionised content creation, whether it’s generating high-quality images from prompts or drafting document copy. AI significantly reduces the time and effort required. For example, DALL-E can produce visual content, while GPT-4 can generate engaging copy, social media updates, and even entire marketing campaigns.
While we use this in many parts of our process, it can also be put to work to produce complete pieces of work for lower level needs, e.g. summary paragraphs, image retouching, rewording.
Research
AI-powered tools are invaluable for speedy, context-relevant research. They can sift through vast amounts of online information in seconds, identifying trends and extracting relevant information. Tools like ChatGPT can summarise articles, generate insights, and provide a comprehensive overview of a topic, providing more time for the ideation.
It is worth noting, though, that some tools do not use up to date information and all research should be sense-checked.
Problem Solving
AI excels at unlocking problems by offering innovative solutions. Problem-solving is not necessarily ‘better’ than human problem solving but will often approach the problem in a different way, providing a broader set of options than you had before.
And one (obvious) thing - AI tools will provide options very very quickly and already in organised copy, which our own brains may or may not do so well.
Thought Starters
AI can serve as a powerful ideation tool, generating a wide range of ideas based on a given prompt. AI can help break creative blocks or inspires new directions, providing thought starters for creative strategies. Results will rarely be fully formed or be pitched well but combined with human thinking great results can be achieved.
This is where custom GPTs can be brought in to help with training and a deeper context for responses.
Conclusion
While there are many more ways AI will help us as technology advances, using AI in the creative industry is no longer a futuristic concept. Our present reality is already being transformed, if we allow these tools to impact how we work. Leveraging AI for content creation, research, problem-solving, thought starters, learning, planning or anything else can enhance our creative processes and help us stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape.
In my opinion we are way past the debate of whether AI is ‘right’ or not, anyone who wants to preserve their own future needs to be asking ‘how’ instead. There may be boundaries as to what each of us is comfortable using these tools for, but if we keep thinking about AI as a ‘future technology’ we may miss what is already possible.
Written by Russell