Labels Are Dead. Long Live Labels.
For years, I’ve called myself a?Creative. It was simple. It fit. But today? That label barely scratches the surface.
Am I a designer? Yes. A writer? Absolutely. A brand strategist? You bet. Social media strategist? Check. Director? Editor? Educator? Yep, all of the above. AI expert? AI pundit? AI evangelist? Guilty. And let’s be honest—the list is only growing. The tools have evolved. AI has supercharged everything. But with all these roles, all these hats, all these?labels—who am I, really?
That’s the thing: Labels were useful when jobs were simple, roles were defined, and the world wasn’t moving at warp speed. But now? They’re outdated. We live in an era of fluidity—where titles don’t define capability, and expertise isn’t confined to one discipline. The edges between creative, strategist, technologist, and influencer have blurred.
Yes, the ambiguity can be frustrating. People like neat boxes. Clients want to know exactly what they’re hiring. And even I sometimes question where I truly fit. But here’s the truth:?
I persist.
Because what matters isn’t the label—it’s the work. It’s the ability to adapt, evolve, and push the boundaries of creativity and technology.
So call me what you want—just know I’ll be redefining it tomorrow. Call me.
AI Roundup
The chief executive of ChatGPT-owner OpenAI says it is "not for sale" after a $97.4bn (￡78.4bn) takeover bid from a consortium of investors led by Elon Musk.
Sam Altman, who co-founded OpenAI with Musk before a public falling out led to Musk's departure, was speaking at the AI Action Summit in Paris.
"We are an unusual organisation and we have this mission of making AGI (artificial general intelligence) benefit all of humanity, and we are here to do that," Altman said in an on-stage interview. Sorry Elon, the board also rejected your offer. Bye!
The statement, signed by dozens of countries including France, China and India, pledges an "open", "inclusive" and "ethical" approach to the technology's development. That would be nice. I guess innovation (profit) is more important.
Related Article - Global Leaders Are Flipping a Coin Between Chaos and Control?
Following GPT 4.5, “a top goal for us is to unify o-series models and GPT-series models by creating systems that can use all our tools, know when to think for a long time or not, and generally be useful for a very wide range of tasks,” Altman says.
The latest model from DeepSeek, the Chinese AI company that’s?shaken up Silicon Valley and Wall Street, can be manipulated to produce harmful content such as plans for a bioweapon attack and a campaign to promote self-harm among teens,?according to The Wall Street Journal.
But no, we don’t need ethics or guardrails.
Get all your AI News here.
Podcast News
?VFX Legend Scott Ross joins Curt on RealmIQ: Sessions
Catch the YouTube session here.
YouTube Premiere
Watch Entertainment and Media Executive Seth Hallen chat with Curt on the future of AI in Hollywood. Tune in this Thursday Night, February 20, 8pm pst. Catch it here.
Check out all my articles at my Blog on RealmIQ here.
About the Author
Curt Doty, founder of?CurtDoty.co, is an award winning creative director whose legacy lies in?branding,?product development, social strategy, integrated marketing, and User Experience Design. His work of entertainment branding includes Electronic Arts, EA Sports, ProSieben, SAT.1, WBTV Latin America, Discovery Health, ABC, CBS, A&E, StarTV, Fox, Kabel 1, and TV Guide Channel.
He has extensive experience on AI-driven platforms MidJourney, Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT,?Murf.ai, HeyGen, and DALL-E. He now runs his AI consultancy RealmIQ?and companion podcast RealmIQ: Sessions on?YouTube?and?Spotify.
He is a sought after public speaker having been featured at Streaming Media NYC, Digital Hollywood, Mobile Growth Association, Mobile Congress, App Growth Summit, Promax, CES, CTIA, NAB, NATPE, MMA Global, New Mexico Angels, Santa Fe Business Incubator, EntrepeneursRx, Davos Worldwide and AI Impact. He has lectured at universities including Full Sail, SCAD, Art Center College of Design, CSUN and Chapman University.
He currently serves on the board of the Godfrey Reggio Foundation, an AI consultant for DMS+ and is the AI Writer for?Parlay Me.