The age of AIsthetics

Johnny Vulkan, Founding Partner, Anomaly

The first photograph was allegedly taken in 1826 but it wasn't until just shy of 100 years later that an American gallery deemed photography worthy of inclusion in their collection. After all, what artistic skill does it require to create a mechanical and chemical replication of reality?

This genie will not be going back in the bottle.

We’re now, hopefully, more enlightened about photography and the still; moving and digitally manipulated form has become a central part of our industry. And now we have a new tool, AI.

Whilst it can be crude, nascent, often clumsily disappointing and inaccurate, we’re already seeing exquisitely crafted images and concepts brought to life. Some of these outputs would’ve taken weeks to achieve using more conventional methods, and maybe only the finest of today’s craftspeople would be able to even come close. Now, like so much software before it, seemingly impossible ideas can take seconds to render, and that democratising of creation is exciting and terrifying in equal measure.

Jobs will be lost. New jobs will be created, but it’s clear that the best insurance anyone can have would be to experiment, learn and play. 

AI is not without problems and it’s natural for us all to experience some discomfort as ‘bad actors’ have the same access to tools as people with less malicious intent, but this genie will not be going back in the bottle. We can probably predict a few years of highly litigious legal jeopardy as all industries struggle to define new rules and concepts in intellectual property and rights but this will only slow rather than reverse the direction of travel.

Jobs will be lost. New jobs will be created, but it’s clear that the best insurance anyone can have would be to experiment, learn and play. 

It won’t take 100 years for AI creativity to appear in gallery collections, in fact it’s already controversially helping to win awards and competitions. But it’s still ultimately a tool. One that any one of us can wield and learn to master. What a great chance for us all to learn.

Above: Anomaly founder Johnny Vulkan, made by AI with Lensa.

Johnny Budden, Executive Creative Director at AKQA

As with any new technology, you could choose to limit human advancement or take people to the moon. When cars were invented we didn’t change our previous methods of transportation – we still walked, cycled and moved around as before. We simply had access to technology that improved our method of getting around.

There are countless possibilities of using AI to add creativity to our work – not replace it. And we are now harnessing those possibilities to advance civilisation. For example, HeyPi.com is a compassionate AI that cares about your needs. GoFundMe used AI animation to bring donation stories to life. 

As with any new technology, you could choose to limit human advancement or take people to the moon.

The power of machine learning created a match between Serena Williams and her past self, from her first Grand Slam at the 1999 US Open versus her most recent at the 2017 Australian Open. We are going to the moon, everyday.

The advantages of AI means that our boutique team is expanded now into a team of a million. We are still driven by the same imagination and passion as before, only now with access to an infinite resource of information to help us achieve the future faster.

Above: Johnny Budden, executive creative director at AKQA. 

Phil Rowley, Head of Futures, Omnicom Media Group

Commentary on the interplay between AI and the creative industries has focused on two areas. First, complications around copyright and intellectual property. Second, the challenge to humankind’s creative abilities. 

On the issue of copyright and IP, these are legal hurdles, and organisations like Omnicom are moving towards an informed and unified point of view on correct use.  On the issue of human creativity, I think we can afford to be a little more philosophical. Don’t forget: at its heart generative AI is a knowledge retrieval engine, and works by cross-referencing and reconstituting existing human creativity. That means AIs need humans and their creative endeavours to continue to produce output of its own: our creativity is their raw material. In short, humans have the upper hand in this relationship.

If we use AI’s output as the raw material to dream further, humans will still occupy the dominant position in this new symbiosis.

Also, we can use AIs output as a jumping off point for more human creativity. We prompt it to generate imagery or text or ideas, but the imperfections in the answers prompt us back in return. Off-kilter or unusual responses provoke and inspire us to push our creativity yet further. If we use AI’s output as the raw material to dream further, humans will still occupy the dominant position in this new symbiosis.   

Humans have been using tools to extend the human body for 200,000 years: an axe is an extension of the arm; a wheel is an extension of the leg; a camera is an extension of the eye. Artificial intelligence is just an extension of the brain. We have worked in harmony with tools for millennia, taking us from stone age humans to moon-walkers. AI may be the most sophisticated tool to date, but it is a tool that reflects our humanity, not threatens it. 

Above: Phil Rowley, Head of Futures, Omnicom Media Group. 

Carl Erik Rinsch, Director at Minted Content

American director Carl Erik Rinsch Since talking with shots just a few weeks ago, significant advancements in AI are even now worth mentioning – chiefly the emergence of text-to-video applications, which have the potential to revolutionise the film industry. 

By porting various applications into a single neural network, Omniverse could potentially become the first AI ‘mind’.

With text-to-video programmes like Runway, fully photorealistic films may be only months away. These applications are poised to change the way filmmakers create, enabling them to visualise their scripts with greater accuracy and efficiency than ever before. 

Another ground-breaking technology on the horizon is NVIDIA's Omniverse, which aims to create a fabric-like network system. By porting various applications into a single neural network, Omniverse could potentially become the first AI ‘mind’. This innovative approach will allow for seamless integration and collaboration between different software tools and applications, significantly enhancing the capabilities of creative professionals.

Above: Carl Erik Rinsch, Director at Minted Content. 

Stu Haury, Senior Experience Designer, VMLY&R/Seattle

The ad industry is rooted in creativity, and creativity is the marriage of tools and ideas. Tools have learning curves and barriers of entry, which artificial intelligence will break down or remove completely, democratsing some parts of the creative process for clients and agencies alike.

Plenty will choose the cheap, easy, and fast results of AI instead of hiring agencies with years of expertise. To reference an old parable, they’ll choose the $1 hammer instead of the $9,999 agency that knows where to hit. We’re fueled by the newness of culture, and the ubiquity of AI in the hands of the wrong people will reach a level of sameness almost as fast as the culture accepts it as an ingrained way of working.

Plenty will choose the cheap, easy, and fast results of AI instead of hiring agencies with years of expertise.

But the other side of creativity is ideas, and AI democratises the ability for more people to contribute widely diverse ideas at an amazing speed. Diversity in ideas will fuel a revolution in visuals, voices, mediums, storytelling, and other amazing ways of thinking. Like every creative process, there’s the first reactive wave of ideas, but those who dive deeper with more focus uncover stronger ideas to differentiate themselves from the rest.
 
Throughout history, we've seen the newest tools replace people and processes of the past with some friction: Businesses will always maximize efficiency and affordability. However, if these new tools are embraced by society at large, we’ll see massive changes in our collective imagination for the better.

Above: Stu Haury, Senior Experience Designer, VMLY&R/Seattle. 

Asif Khan, Creative Strategy Director, Imagination/Detroit

Despite the rapid advancements in AI, we're not likely to see it replacing humans in creative job roles for a while, at least. Across LinkedIn, you’ll find various posts where individuals have tasked AI with creative writing based on simple prompts, and the results have been underwhelming. 

 It still struggles to capture the essence of human traits such as wordplay, irony, subtlety, sarcasm, and wit. 

AI has shown promise in synthesising and summarising vast amounts of information, with an on-point delivery of well-assembled words. Yet, it still struggles to capture the essence of human traits such as wordplay, irony, subtlety, sarcasm, and wit. While AI might be useful in areas where little imagination is required, such as contract writing, it's not yet an existential threat to creative jobs. Lawyers may have more reason to worry than creatives!

On a positive note, AI has proven its ability to enhance and complement creativity in a number of ways. For instance, our creative team has used AI image generators to source the right types of shots for mood boards and background imagery, resulting in impressive outcomes. AI's ability to generate stock photos from fictional elements has unlocked a whole new world of possibilities from a creative standpoint, and we're likely to continue seeing it being used as a complementary tool by creative professionals. 

Above: Asif Khan, Creative Strategy Director, Imagination/Detroit. 

Isabel Perry, VP of Emerging Tech, DEPT

In a world of perpetual change, where innovative solutions are required to tackle new challenges, evolution often begins with a revolution. And those who welcome disruption will be recognised as pioneers.

Creativity has been unleashed. AI is out of the minds of developers and into the hands of everyone, embedded into mainstream culture, positively transforming the way we work. While we’re not all going to become designers or creatives overnight - AI will liberate curious and creative minds – who can now bring their imagination to life faster and with less technical training. In a period of rapid change, creativity becomes more valuable than ever. 

 It still struggles to capture the essence of human traits such as wordplay, irony, subtlety, sarcasm, and wit. 

At DEPT® we’re putting AI at the centre of how we work – from optimising repetitive tasks to using AI tools to dial up our creativity. An example is our project FingerSpelling, a hand-tracking experience using machine learning to help learn the sign language alphabet. Currently, more than 5.1 million correct hand signs have been registered, and the American Society for Deaf Children now uses Fingerspelling.xyz as part of its own training materials.

Above: Isabel Perry, VP of Emerging Tech, DEPT. 

Mariëlle Tolen, Associate Creative Director, Media.Monks

AI is quickly transforming the way film content is made and seen—and I’m not just talking about the creative. This technology can make our journey from script to shoot to screen more efficient than ever before. However, using AI just for the sake of AI is a fool’s errand. It has to actually create value for clients and consumers. That’s why we always start off by asking ourselves why – what exactly do we hope to achieve with AI? 

Using AI just for the sake of AI is a fool’s errand. It has to actually create value for clients and consumers.

AI has the power to speed up typically time-consuming processes. From leveraging ChatGPT as a next-level research assistant to using Stable Diffusion or Midjourney for mood films, storyboards and concept art, AI isn’t just a handy tool for our creatives, it also helps us enhance and automate the pre-production phase and other processes, like translations or local market adaptations. 

By using AI as a production tool, we help brands (re)focus their budget on the on-screen output, rather than production processes. As a result, they can go to market faster and more cost-efficiently. As a craft-driven company, we do everything we can to empower our talent to supercharge their skills, creativity and craft—AI has simply entered the equation. 

Above: Mariëlle Tolen, Associate Creative Director, Media.Monks. 

Alex Collmer, Founder & CEO at VidMob

The ongoing narrative pitting AI technologies against creativity as binary options is only distracting us from unlocking the possibilities of integrating AI tools into the advertising industry.

If leveraged correctly, AI can enable us to understand the impact of every creative decision we make inside ads by analysing enormous volumes of creative data.  With human input to give context, correct mistakes and connect data to strategy, this information then provides advertisers with invaluable, actionable insights.  

While the impact of AI in the advertising industry will be positive for some, and negative for others, the outcome will only depend on the approach taken.

Brands that don’t explore AI tools, or simply rely only on AI generated creative without employing human collaboration, risk losing their competitive edge. The data is irrefutable that pre-trained models are always inferior to those which incorporate reinforcement learning with human feedback.  Marketers who fail to take full advantage of the combined potential, risk being left behind as these capabilities to enhance and improve creative effectiveness. While the impact of AI in the advertising industry will be positive for some, and negative for others, the outcome will only depend on the approach taken.