I asked ChatGPT: ‘Do you think logically or illogically?’
It replied: “I process information logically based on patterns and context in the data I've been trained on.”
Why does this matter to clients, agencies and creatives in particular? Because the best ads and projects created in our industry are the result of a final illogical creative leap, where two unrelated and incongruous ideas are brought together.
Compare this to the work of strategists for example. Their job is to gather many disparate pieces of information, analyse it and present it in a clear and intelligible way. It’s a way-finding exercise for a product or brand. Essentially, who we’re talking to, what we should say to them and where we should say it. That doesn't mean there isn’t a degree of creativity required, but it’s a far more logical exercise than creative.
For clients, AI can help you generate your basic bulk social media posts with the help of Adobe’s Firefly for example, or help generate your PR blurb. And we’ve all seen the trippy amorphous videos generated using AI as a creative demonstration–visually interesting, sometimes disturbing but all very similar, and crucially, with no persuasive concept. We work in the 'art of persuasion industry' after all.
For seriously unique creative, delivering cut-through campaigns, AI just can’t make it and may never. To achieve those qualities you still need the emotional, random, sometimes chaotic mind of a human creative who’s first filled their head’s with lots of information about the product or brand.
Yes, I’m trying talk to myself and our industry into a long career. But let me give you some examples of what I’m referring to – the final illogical creative leap bringing two ideas together.
Rubber Balls and TVs
The brief would never have said ‘come up with and idea using rubber balls to sell Sony TVs’. Nor could a client ask ChatGPT to come with an idea using rubber balls to sell their TVs. It took a human creative to bring these two random ideas together.
House Plumbing and Beer
Would the brief has stipulated that the creatives somehow need to create a viral prank using house plumbing to sell beer? Or would anyone have thought to ask ChatGPT to come up with an idea using house plumbing in viral prank format?
Shoplifting and Loyalty Schemes
Using shoplifting to promote a department store’s loyalty scheme would have been the last thing the strategist would have requested on the brief.
You get the idea – two seemingly unrelated ideas brought together, that only a human can do at this point and perhaps, hopefully, forever.
Searches for "AI Taking Jobs" soared by 304% globally in 2023.
Yes it’s a worry for whole areas of the workforce, but to creatives, don’t worry about your jobs just yet. And clients, for product and brand campaigns, if you want to stay ahead of AI, keep the brief loose–it has always been thought of as just the starting point for great creative in the best agencies.
Developing your campaigns this way will ensure that your marketing will stand out, above and beyond competitors who increasingly start to rely on AI to generate creative.
