As a tool of our creation, we as humans are responsible for making sure that AI is used in a way that is actually helpful. INNOCEAN USA's Executive Creative Director, Bob Rayburn, speaks on where AI fits into the toolbox of the creative.
Does your agency encourage or deter the use of A.I. in your work? If applicable, how does your team integrate these tools into the creative process?
INNOCEAN does encourage the use of A.I. in our work. As an agency we want to always learn the latest innovations so we can intelligently apply them to the solving of client problems. We always explore new things. Currently we are using AI to comp and prototype ideas. It is a great tool to help visualize an idea for clients and it can be done at the speed of news. We can turn things around so much faster with the help of A.I.
We aren’t using any kind of A.I. image generation in final deliverables for clients yet, due to all the legal battles over copyright and intellectual property issues. Being in the creative community and an artist myself, I would never want to infringe on an artist’s creation knowingly. So, once the legalities play out we will proceed responsibly.
How does the accessibility of these tools affect the way it’s used?
I don’t feel the accessibility affects the “way” the technology is used. I believe it affects how widely its used by how many people. In the case of chat GPT (free access) and in the case of something like Midjourney, (cheap Subscriptions) creates a low barrier of entry. This makes things much more appealing to try out, even by casual users, as opposed to a big price tag for a software bundle. It encourages trial by a much larger section of society. Even drawing in people who wouldn’t normally dip their toe in this pond. The A.I.’s ultimate goal is to get trained on as many different types of asks as possible, by that measure the accessibility helps it achieve that goal.
As AI advances, how is the role of the creative redefined? In what ways do you see the landscape of creation changing / shifting in response to AI.
The role of creative will always be to solve client problems in the most engaging way possible. If A.I. is the next great tool that contributes to that goal, it gets added to the toolbox. As AI advances and starts to think for itself, the role of the creative will most likely shift to curation. AI can be a robust engine of ideas like a young copywriter or art director. But someone still needs to curate the best ideas for the client problems, as well as prompt it to develop some of the ideas differently, suggest fixes, etc. Basically, the creative takes on the role of a traditional creative director. An analogy is that once you type in a search on google you get pages and pages of results, but not all of them are helpful. You have to select the useful ones to solve your problem. Curation is still necessary.
All that being said, the role of the creative that makes groundbreaking fresh ideas, isn’t going anywhere. A.I. is built on learning from what’s already been done. In that mode, it will only iterate and take the next logical steps on what to create. But it won’t be good at making that “hard left turn” and creating something so counter to what had been done previously that it becomes a phenomenon. An example is Star Wars or Breaking Bad. In the case of Star Wars, it was an optimistic myth at a time when all the movies in Hollywood were pessimistic, born out of our post-Vietnam haze; Carrie, Jaws, Apocalypse now, The Godfather. Star Wars was that “left turn” and because it was so different, it took over the world.
So, it feels like A.I. by itself, will be able to create a large middle class of average to good work, but for now, without a human’s ingenuity, it won’t be great.
If AI furthers its capability to create and think, what is a responsible way to use these new technologies?
Ai is clearly the next in a long line of powerful advances to grace the human race. From the bow and arrow to the printing press, the automobile to the computer, the internet to A.I. All created by us humans. Each one had profound effects on those who embraced them and adverse effects on the people unwilling to adapt to them.
The real responsibility lies with us people. All the things mentioned above are tools in our hands that can benefit or harm, all at the mercy of the human wielding them. It’s people we need to concern ourselves with, it’s people who need to be acting with empathy not malice. There is a lot of fear out there about the technology itself and not enough thought about the people using it. Anything can be a weapon in the wrong hands, but it can also help save lives in the right ones. The responsible way forward is making sure the people behind the technology act out of love and not fear.