AI: Friend or Foe for Creative Functions?

AI is reshaping just about every single business function from finance to sales to customer service and beyond. Is automation a threat to creativity as we know it, or an opportunity to expand our horizons?

It’s no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping just about every single business function from finance to sales to customer service and beyond. But what about the functions we typically think of as ‘creative’, such as marketing or advertising? It makes sense because these functions all have practices that are ripe for automation.

The idea of creativity is inherently human to us. It’s the ability to conceive original ideas and out of the box solutions. So, if not all humans are naturally creative, how could a machine ever be? Many of us grew up believing that some people were more predisposed to this gift with either left- or right-brain thinking. Is automation a threat to creativity as we known it, or an opportunity to expand our horizons?

Rethinking Creativity - This is not the first time that technological shifts have required creatives to think differently and reimagine their approach. Then in the 90s, the internet appeared and opened a whole new world of possibilities. In the early and mid-20th century, marketing and advertising were focused on mediums like TV, print, and radio.  Creatives adapted to these changes, altering their content forms and tactics to maximise the capabilities afforded by new technologies. In the early aughts, social media came along and provided yet another shift, just as smartphones and other gadgets would later do.

AI will be no different. In fact, this technological change is the refresh that creative spaces have been needing. We have tons of information available about our customers, and then it is our job to turn those insights into campaigns or solutions that we think will satisfy their needs and wants. A lot of what we do in functions like marketing, PR, and advertising is based on two things: data and speculation.  

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