It’s Artificial Intelligence, not Artificial Imagination

"And then they let us come up with creative ideas...!"

I’ve been hearing a lot recently about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the creative industries. In the music industry, there are major concerns about intellectual property and copyright. In the visual arts, AI is being used to develop paintings, drawings and even sculptures.

And, of course, in advertising and marketing, AI is giving clients the means to come up with their own campaigns.

So, am I worried?

Well, yes. And no.

Let me explain:

The main reason the rise of AI bothers me – particularly in relation to marketing and advertising – is that too many clients will see it as a silver bullet. The magic pill that eliminates the need for an agency. They think AI’s the answer to their prayers. A tool they can use to plan, create and deliver their employer brand for a fraction of the cost of engaging an agency.

And, to a certain extent that’s right. Advocates of AI say that it’s an incredibly useful tool that can do a lot of mundane tasks quicker and more accurately than a person can.

So, in planning a campaign, AI can gather and analyse data on selected audiences and media to guide the strategy in an instant. And in delivering that campaign, it can be reactive to live engagement data, so the campaign can be reshaped to fit the client’s needs.

But creating a campaign? Taking a genuine leap of imagination? Coming up with an idea that hits your audience right in the chops and screams “THIS IS FOR YOU!” into their face until their eyeballs bleed?

Really?

No. Because AI can only learn from what’s gone before. And human imagination is the antithesis of this.

That’s why creatives exist. We take a simple proposition and come up with something so inventive – and often so random – that nobody else would have thought of it.

Including AI.

Such as screaming “THIS IS FOR YOU!” into your audience’s face until their eyeballs bleed.

There’s no template for that. It’s not even something you can necessarily teach. So it’s impossible for AI to learn it.

So, yes, Artificial Intelligence does have a role to play in our industry.

But it’ll never become Artificial Imagination.