“Creativity and Human Connection in a World of AI Disruption”

“To a greater or lesser extent, every company is an AI company right now”, says Alex Ashton. 

And, taking a look around an industry landscape abuzz with predictions, fears, and fantasies about artificial intelligence, it’s hard to deny that I/D.W’s managing principal has a point. The logic behind the creative community’s apprehension to the technology is, by now, well-worn. 

“People are afraid that generative AI is going to replace creative jobs”, says Rebecca Meyer, I/D.W’s director of post-production. “And in some regards, that’s a well-founded fear. AI is great at producing mediocre work. If you do a job that can be automated, or that doesn’t require strategic problem-solving, critical artistic thinking, or unique technical skill, your job may be eliminated”. 

There’s a broader concern of a creative ‘race to the bottom’, summed up by Alex. “There’s a sense that high level creative expression that endeavours to create human connection will be replaced by content that AI bots are regurgitating from past ideas.  But because the results will be less expensive and faster, clients will be drawn to use it as a replacement.”

Mis/disinformation is another notable issue, and I/D.W is partnering with the Content Authenticity Initiative, a project founded by Adobe that brings in stakeholders as diverse as Canon, the BBC, and Getty Images, to push that thinking and best practices forward.

What’s unique about Rebecca and Alex’s approach to AI is their confidence to look at the bigger picture. “It reminds me of when people first began to grapple with the impact of the smartphone on our industry and wider culture”, recalls Rebecca. “People were worried that smartphones would be a huge disruptor to the economy and media - and they were right to be. Digital photography had just recently made many businesses and processes obsolete”. 

But the advent of the smartphone was not a death sentence for creativity, or for the creative industry. “The increased volume of imagery and content that our post-smartphone culture has enabled has democratised creativity - so that is nothing new”, adds Alex. “In the age of the internet and social media, there is a much larger demand for image content. But clients are still asking us for our help in producing original creative to elevate their brands. It’s easy to see AI playing out in quite a similar way, lowering the floor of creative quality but opening up more space and value for those who can raise the ceiling”. 

To some, the idea of AI inadvertently helping to ‘raise the ceiling’ of creative quality might feel unrealistic. After all, this is a technology which is already synonymous with the idea of pumping out endless iterations of existing ideas and imagery. But it’s more than just wishful thinking - there’s a cold business logic behind a more optimistic perspective, too. 

“Much like word processing eliminated typing pools, AI will replace humans in certain jobs because of cost and speed. Every new technology that takes hold displaces former processes. But if we leverage AI tools to do the jobs that we don't want to do, won’t that allow us more time to do the creative and strategic work that we do want to do?”, asks Rebecca. “Clients still partner with creatives for strategies and insights in a quickly changing world. Generative AI is a creative tool, not a single solution.” 

Distilling that point further, Alex points to the impact of generative AI that he’s already seeing play out in the real world. “Brands will combine original creative with custom datasets and algorithms to differentiate their brands.  And they will still rely on creative teams for strategy and execution,” he says.  

Beginning earlier this year, IDW has been working to understand the opportunities raised by AI in imagery – from the ethical implications (including reinforcing harmful biases not to mention the copyright issues) to technical perspectives (for example, what can AI offer in terms of post-production). With select client partners, the studio has worked to catalyse conversations and early-stage approaches and points-of-view around how AI might be used in brand imagery – essentially, what is in bounds, and what it isn’t. The studio has found that brand partners are receptive and eager to develop their own guidelines.

“As an independent studio, we’ve always actively engaged in questions around creative leadership and the process of creativity, and this skillset of asking the questions and trying to develop hypotheses and iterate them serves us well during this disruption. We are continuing to engage in the questions and work to evolve in a strategic and principled way in this space,” says Alex.

“Broadly speaking, there’s a danger that we might get too distracted by fear of the changes that AI brings to see clearly what it enables”, Rebecca asserts. 

Asking The Right Questions 

Both Alex and Rebecca agree that now is an important time to be asking questions about AI and those who wish to use it. But, interestingly, none of these questions are really new to the industry; and their answers have too often been obfuscated by shorter-term distractions and trends. Yet, according to the I/D.W pair, the AI revolution is a new inflection point which means these questions are more pertinent than ever. 

“The AI conversation is a new opportunity to ask a set of questions which have already been waiting too long to be properly answered”, suggests Rebecca. “In my mind, they are: 

How does the content that we broadcast impact cultural and mental health? 

How do we as creatives engage to advance cultural norms and values in our creative work versus relying on old ideas (i.e. representation)? 

How can we tell stories most effectively through visual means? 

How do we reject the biases that are intrinsic in our culture (and therefore in AI models)? 

How do we get compensated for the value of original ideas? 

And how do we fight for the value of strong and original creative in the face of tightening budgets? 

Not one of these questions is new to AI. But our hope is that it leaves us little choice but to confront them as a creative community”. 

Again, the example of the smartphone appears to be an instructive one. “Today, 3.2 billion images are shared daily. That’s more than the total number of photographs from the first 140 years of photography”, notes Alex. 

And there’s every reason to believe that those numbers will look like chump change compared to the oncoming avalanche of AI-generated content. “But the smartphone is just an example of another inflection point - of how disruptive technologies have created a world we could never imagine”, continues the managing principal. “A world in which there is more access to creative opportunity than ever before”. 

“We have a preoccupation with and fear of change brought on by this disruptive technology”, concludes Rebecca. “But the key question is how you are using the technology - and to be clear about whether your intention is replacement or partnership. In 5 years, AI tools will be integrated into all of our workflows, but humanity and creativity will still be at the core of differentiation and storytelling.”