Creativity is evolving; AIxponential; keep it simple stupid + more
Hi team
Last week I came through Singapore on my journey to the northern hemisphere. When I was there in July my passport was stamped by a human behind a desk. There were rows and rows of them. Now there are rows and rows of machines.
Is this a metaphor for the evolution of content creation as generative AI becomes part of our working lives? I don't think so. More on that below.
Hope you are setting up for a great week.
1 Opinion
Creativity evolves
2 Ideas
2 (a) Exponentially exponential
2 (b) Keep it simple
3 Stories
In case you missed them
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Let's get into it:
1 Opinion: Creativity evolves
Whether it’s scribbling on cave walls, painting on canvas or dancing on TikTok, humans are about creativity.
Our brains and our society have evolved to reward creativity. Humans are at their best when they’re making things.
So hold the doom-laden AI-related headlines because there’s a twist in the plot. AI isn’t out to eradicate human creativity, and digital content professionals aren’t going to abandon AI any time soon. The future of content creation won’t be a case of AI vs creators.
It will be driven by AI-powered creators ?? + ??
We in the digital content community really can have it all our own way. AI will help us to work smarter and faster, but only if we’re open to its assistance.
Let’s be clear about what AI is. It’s not a malicious entity that will make human content creators obsolete.
It’s a technology that’s powering a new generation of tools that will help us to get even better at what we do best: being creative.
A painter can’t paint without a brush or an easel, but the tools don’t make the art: the painter does.
It is, and always will be, a tool. Content created using AI will always be edited, reviewed, tweaked, and published by our people. Our creative talent will always have control, and our content will always be human-assured.
That doesn't meant that change isn't coming, and coming exponentially fast (see below). And it will be our ability to surf that change that determines who wins and who doesn't in this new and quickly evolving environment.
How are you thinking about the integration of AI into your work?
2 Ideas:
2 (a) Exponentially exponential
I am old enough to remember when 3,000 of the world's top minds called for a moratorium on the development of AI in order to minimise the chances of an exponential crisis. That was March. Since then, AI companies haven't paused so much as doubled down. Last week Amazon invested $4 billion in an AI company. That is an unbelievably large sum of money. And it's just one investment from one company.
I have written here before about the power of exponentiality. The example was COVID. One moment it was page 9 headlines from a far off Chinese city, the next, you weren't allowed to go to the shops.
Now we are witnessing the power of exponentiality as the AI wave unfolds. It is almost impossible to keep up with all the new things that are happening in AI each week. Just last week, this:
Also, ChatGPT can now see, listen and speak.
There have been many threads on X showing the power of these new capabilities, here's one:
And remember the hype over the metaverse last year? It seemed to go away, and yet it's back again, powered by AI and the exponential ability of technology to force change:
We all know that AI will impact our lives. We have absolutely no idea how quickly or how deeply, because we don't understand exponentiality.
How will your team surf the wave of change that is here?
2 (b) Keep it simple stupid
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”?
— Mark Twain
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
“Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information.”
— Edward Tuft
The core competence of the communicator is synthesis. As a copywriter, I seek to say the most in the least. As a ghostwriter, I let my subjects know that, after the interview, I will write what they had said, only simpler. As a leader, I seek to communicate a simple vision that everyone can follow.
The same is true of digital communications, and more so. You have less than 3 seconds to get your message across, and convince people to stay with you. Synthesise it.?
Keep it simple stupid
3 Stories
In case you missed them
Thanks for reading!
Talk again soon.
Mike