AI: Augmented Imagination

We live in a time when it seems almost impossible to keep up with the flood of news and updates about everything happening around (and because of) various generative AI applications or LLMs.

The remarkable thing is that all of these AIs have been trained with vast amounts of information (and let me clarify, information is totally distinct from knowledge — they are two entirely different things) to create or depict situations, imitating styles, trends, techniques, and tools that we humans have developed: everything that we have ever imagined throughout history did not exist before we invented it, shared it with others, improved upon it, and adopted it on a large scale.

As of today, those apps and platforms powered by AI still require a human ability — the ability to invent, imagine, and dream. For the time being, technologies like GPT-4 are unable to achieve that point, and the results of their processes lack intentionality, originality, attitude, soul, and the ability to question the audience. The good news is that we can achieve all of that with our imagination.

These tools are here to expand, increase, and augment our imagination. Even people without the (neither natural nor acquired) ability to take good pictures or create art by themselves can now visualize ideas and concepts previously locked up in their minds, unable to be shared with others.

Do you have the skill to imagine new situations in familiar places, or usual situations in unexpected places? Do you enjoy mixing styles and creating reversions of classic things? Is there an idea in your head that you haven’t been able to materialize due to a lack of knowledge about certain tools? The good news is that AI is here to augment our imagination and help us bring our ideas to life.

But let’s not fool ourselves. For example, do you use Photoshop at a professional level? How much of its capacity do you use, from 0 to 100%? Do you have a smartphone? If so, do you use it to create something new, or is it simply a replacement for TV and newspapers? And if you were to get a professional camera, how much time would you have to invest in learning to use it to its fullest potential, assuming you already know how to take great pictures before getting such said camera?

Every technology we have always had at our fingertips requires a high degree of commitment/engagement on our part to understand it, use it, take advantage of it, and experiment with it. The good thing about generative art is that it has a relatively low barrier to entry. There is a clear ‘path of least resistance’ that allows many people to try it out. Of course, if these people have nothing to say, show, or share, their attempts will remain as poor and lazy photos or videos stored on their super-capable devices.

We are fortunate that generative art tools have a relatively low barrier to entry, allowing many people to try it out. However, it still requires some level of commitment and willingness to learn. If people have nothing to say or share, their attempts will remain as poor and lazy photos or videos stored on their devices, or published online, and impacting almost no one.

And as with all generative AI platforms, the skill of “prompting” doesn’t come from simply copying and pasting lines of code, descriptions, or sentences (a commonly used hack — there are even platforms that “sell” prompts for 3 or 5 Euros, no comments). It comes from the user’s prior knowledge and experience. I may be a big fan of music and have tons of information about trends, cultural movements, bands, instruments, etc., but if I can’t compose, write, or perform music in real life, no prompt will put me on the same level as someone who truly knows what they’re doing. This applies to any other type of output AI can generate: photography, illustration, videos, text, and so on.

My feeling is that, while we are generating text, images, code, or anything else, we’re also generating the perception of creativity. This is how we understand the creative process: transforming a few words or thoughts into something real. Something we can see, hear, or feel.

For now, creativity comes 100% from humans: from our suggestions, our editing and reworking of what we get, and what we ultimately do with the result. How we remix it, or even how we use it as an example of what not to do. AI is just a conduit, another tool like Photoshop, Word, or a pencil.

We humans create from the things we see, experience, live, process, and reinterpret. AI, for now, can’t do any of that — it can replicate and simulate, but it’s not authentic. It still feels plastic, soulless, and entirely devoid of intent. Even the promise of perfection achieved by AI often results in outputs that are clearly lacking the “life” behind them.

Personally, I really like talking about “Augmented Imagination.” We think, imagine, and project — and AI is there, ready to help take all of that to another level.

In advertising, I already see several sectors beginning to use generative AI tools in different parts of the process, both in conceptualization and production. By the way, thanks to AI, these two stages have never been so close (in terms of time and space) as they are now: you can have an idea and immediately prototype or visualize it using AI as a very capable “co-pilot” for these tasks.

It is up to each of us to decide how much, how, and when we want to integrate AI tools and platforms into what we do. They are there, available to everyone. It’s a matter of taking the steps and learning to make the most of them. How far can we take our ideas, concepts, and intentions? How much can we expand what we can imagine?