AI can be an amazing creative partner, transforming production and opening up a multitude of new possibilities. But getting the most out of the technology isn’t always straightforward.
Beyond sorting through the fast-growing sprawl of AI tools, it’s identifying where AI can be most additive to our efforts, amplifying capabilities and expertise rather than simply replacing
them. For creatives, it’s not just about becoming AI-fluent in their own disciplines, but using the technology to supercharge work on a broader scale. Following are four suggestions:
Augment core expertise with entirely new skills. Much of the conversation about AI and creativity centers around improving our existing efforts. An art director producing a greater
variety of images more quickly, for instance. But there’s no reason to stop there. Instead, smarter adoption is using AI to expand our abilities beyond our core expertise. A copywriter
using AI not just for writing, but to mockup designs and generate sample videos suddenly has new ways to express their vision.
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This approach turns AI into an additive force, enhancing
creatives’ primary skills while opening doors into adjacent disciplines, enabling them to take ideas from concept to execution more quickly.
Test ideas. Nothing
helps refine ideas more than a ruthless critic. While AI can’t replace focus groups or thoughtful co-workers, it can easily roleplay different audience perspectives to find potential weaknesses.
For example, a beauty brand might build synthetic personas that mirror the interests of top influencers and then tap them for feedback on new campaigns and products. A fast-casual chain could test
menu messaging against skeptical, health-conscious parent personas.
Like any feedback, AI criticism shouldn’t be taken as gospel. But when marketers must produce more content than
ever, AI-generated critics can be useful as a second set of eyes, helping fine-tune messaging and serving as a proxy for how audiences may respond.
Extend the concept. AI
may not possess the brilliance of human creators, but with a strong concept and existing assets, it can be extremely capable in extending work across new channels and platforms. For example, starting
from a 30-second video, a brand could easily generate numerous variations for both organic and paid formats, with messaging automatically tailored to different audiences. Additional wizardry could
include dynamically altering elements within the video itself, like swapping out an as-shot-in-NYC street scene for an AI-generated Paris or London.
Do the more impossible
– AI isn’t just a newer technology, it’s a new creative medium. And as impressive as it can be, allowing us to do in hours what might have previously taken weeks, that might
not be the most exciting part of the equation.
Instead, the real creative superpower will be finding ways to accomplish entirely new things. For example, a new era of movie promotion
could be AI-driven, with studios transforming the previously closed world of the traditional press junket into dynamic, AI-powered social events. Fans by the thousands could submit questions and
receive personalized, shareable, AI-generated video responses from a star's approved digital clone. Or an apparel retailer could build a smart mirror that not only showed shoppers a basic reflection,
but could show what they would look like in different lighting situations or environments.
Ultimately, the winning formula for AI creativity is going to be…using AI creatively, focusing
on the tech beyond creative efficiency to craft truly amazing experiences.