Creatives have spent over a year in the company of Generative AI. We sought to find out how the technology has changed their craft.
We conducted four one-on-one interviews with some of our most talented thinkers and makers, each representing a different creative field.
From copywriting and branding, to motion design and AI artistry, we’re excited to share the results with you.
“Creativity means going from point A to B in a way that no one thought of…
…a deviation from the straight line that shows a better way to go from point A to B.”
—Marc Weinreich,
Copy Lead at BASIC/DEPT®
How will the most successful brands of the future be using AI to improve their creative copy?
I think AI will help free up creative writers who might be wearing many hats (especially right now) to focus only on wearing the hats they want to wear.
Generative AI can help sprinkle SEO content into a blog post or a website, for example, but the idea around the content, the insight, the strategy—that needs to come from an emotional place.
While AI can help scale ideas and help show proof of concept, the beginning and end stages of every creative process will be led by a real-life human… so that every great idea will start with the human eye, not AI.
What are three things brands can do now to prepare for that future?
One: Change perception around AI as a threat. Make learning about it mandatory for creatives through workshops and knowledge sharing.
Two: Brands identify new revenue streams—supported if not automated by AI.
And, finally: Brands should improve customer relations by evolving the chatbot to be more human and empathetic and helpful.
“Creativity is an outlet for me… I perceive it as the opposite of capitalism. I want to perceive it as problem solving while enjoying yourself rather than feeling like it’s a task…
It is the opposite of having to do something.”
— Christopher Noort,
Lead Designer at STUDIO DUMBAR/DEPT®
How will the most successful brands of the future be using AI to improve their typography?
The short answer is probably speeding up processes… But in the current state of AI, vectors are the enemy of AI. That is where you really start to see the flaws.
And then, on top of that, I think typography. Although it feels rigid and practical, the nuances are mainly based on emotion and personality. This is where the human touch plays a huge role in how a type is being made and how it’s being used.
However, with the enormous backlog of information that is in the world of typography, I think AI will very much be a tool that will help rather than be the leading engine that creates.
Nevertheless, I think a human touch and a human consciousness will be very much needed in the process of creating great type.
What are three things brands can do now to prepare for that future?
Besides rethinking every aspect of their current way of doing business. I think embracing the technological evolution that is about to happen is very, very important.
Preparing for that by freeing up time—especially for the creative teams—to start experimenting and getting used to the software, getting used to the tools, and making it part of their arsenal will be necessary.
AI will be something that will save a crazy amount of time and will be a beautiful tool that can help us think even further and create even more beautiful things.
But it will always be a conversation between a human and AI. I was thinking about this last week… all these new tools give us absolute freedom to create everything that we can think of—but that doesn’t automatically mean that everything we can think of is also a great idea. We still need to be conscious and critical to avoid creating an endless stream of very mid content.
“Creativity to me is connecting the dots in new and more meaningful ways.
Personally, I love that creativity has a really broad spectrum. It can range from a tiny change on a visual or a message to make it fresh again, all the way to a groundbreaking innovation.”
— Noëlle Newbold,
Group Creative Director at BASIC/DEPT®
How will the most successful brands of the future be using AI to improve their branding?
The most successful will use AI to give their consumers a more personalised and premium experience of their brand, which in turn, of course, will create brand love.
I’d also speculate that brands who will stand out to consumers as authentic and fresh will be those whose businesses put the time gained from AI automation toward their creative ideation.
What are three things brands can do now to prepare for that future?
One: Recognise that AI will require teams to have a new way of thinking about process and creation. There will be an adjustment.
Two: That said, the fail-fast mentality will be important to sharpen or define your brand values if you haven’t already. Gen Z’s scrutinisation will only become more significant as time goes on.
And three: Simplify. In an increasingly complex world, it will be more important than ever to simplify for your consumer, to simplify their experience, simplify your message, just simplify where you can.
“Creativity for me, has been about transformation. How can you transform A into B?
…If you have a capacity to transform and to get from an idea to a different one, and then to a third one and fourth one—then you’re in a great place to be creative.”
— Henry Daubrez,
CEO & CCO of DOGSTUDIO/DEPT®
How will the most successful brands of the future be using Generative AI?
I would say there’s a long-term and short-term to it.
Some industries are going to be quickly influenced or impacted, like customer service. AI can progress customer service in many ways, through voice narration and how AI can automate answers… So soon, we’ll be speaking to ‘people’ on the phone who are not people, which is both frightening and pretty amazing.
On the flip side, many brands are looking into what AI is as a tool and seeing how it can impact their product, like their pollution chain or process.
Overall, people expect AI to be like this kind of magic that will fully change everything we’ve been doing immediately—but I think that change will happen as it influences more and more over time.
What are three things brands can do now to prepare for that future?
One is dealing with the legal situation around AI, which is moving fast. Globally, the legal framework wasn’t ready for the implications of AI. So, we need to anticipate rules and regulations…and following how they evolve will be crucial to the future.
Tied to that, it’s number two, keeping up with everything happening. I’m following up on the news but also checking on social media… What are the new tools? How are tools involving a hands-on approach?
I think it’s also much easier to be relevant if you’re using AI tools yourself and seeing how new versions are going to influence the work.
There’s a huge chance a lot of brands are going to try to hit the ground running right away, and for that, you need to understand what’s been going on for the last few years.
And the third one, I would say, is more on the service side of it. As those tools get into the creation process, what is the implication for pricing models?
This is especially true for agencies. How many hours, how many days of work, that’s all changing. These tools are going to help save that time, but they aren’t going to replace agencies overall.
AI isn’t magical. You still have to have a human being who will be behind and try to bridge those tools together to make the most sense out of it.
