Last month, our intern Allie attended the International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France (aka Cannes Lions), where she immersed herself in insights from the top leaders in marketing and advertising. Reflecting on her experience, Allie noted that AI was a dominant topic throughout the festival as, “Practically every talk touched upon it”.
AI is not Creative, You are.
Among those that mentioned AI were Adobe and Microsoft, the latter promoting the slogan, “AI is not creative, you are.” This campaign has sparked considerable interest and debate in the industry for its notions of AI and creativity. According to one of the talks at the Cannes Lions Festival, given by Goodman at Microsoft Beach, AI has been integrated into 75% of workplaces, with half of these adoptions occurring just this year. This rapid integration has raised concerns about AI potentially taking over people’s jobs, underscoring the importance of ethical considerations in its implementation. Microsoft’s Tagline “AI is not creative, you are”, debunks these concerns by highlighting the notion that AI can’t replace humans in the workforce because, without people, AI is not creative.
While AI can augment human capabilities, it cannot replicate human creativity, Allie explains. Many are impressed by AI’s ability to enhance creativity and make it more accessible, but there’s a crucial distinction to be made. AI operates by processing vast datasets to simulate human-like responses, yet it lacks the ability to generate genuinely new ideas or artworks.
In an interview with Adobe’s Chief Creative Evangelist, Hadrian, Allie explored this concept further as Hadrian emphasizes that AI represents craftsmanship rather than creativity. He explains that, “Crafting is the art of doing something with specific tools (like painting a replica of a famous painting). Then once you know how to do something well you say, ok cool. I am going to try something new with it…That is creativity…Creativity enhances everything you do”.
For example, suppose one wants to use AI to create a piece of art. Simply instructing AI to “make art” won’t yield novel or imaginative results. Instead, humans must engage their creative side to dream up a vision for AI to realize. This collaboration demonstrates that AI, without human direction, remains a tool of craft rather than an autonomous creator.
Ultimately, the partnership between AI and human ingenuity, as noted by Microsoft’s tagline, “AI isn’t creative, you are”, underscores that AI’s potential lies in job augmentation rather than human replacement. As Allie concludes, “You can’t use AI creatively without humans, showing that it’s not going to take over people’s jobs anytime soon.” Here a Good Juju we believe in the power of AI as a tool to empower and foster creativity but not overcome humanity.
