Do I AI?
AI can now effectively touch every aspect of our lives – creative is no exception. See my approach, my ethos, and my work with AI below.
The Approach
The only way to maximize the value of AI, and retain total creative agency is to build an approach around how and when to utilise AI. Here are my three tenets:
Creating the impossible
My first consideration is whether or not the visual idea is possible without the specific capabilities AI has over traditional design tools.
My role as an Art Director is to dream up ideas no one else has done before – so it's no surprise that the right stock footage to comp often doesn't exist. That's where AI can bring value, ensuring we don't compromise the idea because of available resource.
Building a vision
AI to me is not a substitute for high-quality production – it's a gateway towards unlocking it. So whilst I will always advocate for real artists to be the final point of execution (CGI artists, illustrators, motion designers etc.), AI is an effective way to talk about ideas and start to imagine the art of the possible.
Delivering consistency
Graphics and art have just as much responsibility telling a story as much as any copy, and when the visual elements don't align, the story gets lost.
AI allows the minor imperfections that break a narrative to be accounted for – from applying the same lighting between inconsistent shoots, to ensuring a product is accurate to the one available on the shelf.
The Work
New work soon
The ethics
My priority as a creative is to work in a way that preserves my personal values. We all know AI can be a harmful tool, so I've spent the past few years solidifying my moral stance on AI and its use.
Nurture human talent
AI can artwork. It can produce assets, work with a brand, and spin out copy. It's faster and cheaper than a human resource which all points to 'freeing up designers' to focus on the creativity.
As a senior creative, that sounds great, but I am concerned about how that invalidates the new generation of creatives. Market competition is tough, and AI is directly replacing junior design and artworking roles.
It's a humanitarian issue, but also an industrial one – we're simultaneously widening the skills gap and depreciating the quality of creative work because when it comes to advertising, AI isn't good – it's 'good enough', which is a separate issue of debasing our standards.
Those who currently use AI successfully are the ones who understand it's a part of the creative process, not the inherent solution: taste, fundamental design knowledge, and brand respect are all difference-makers in the result.
But if we don't foster those skills in upcoming talent and default to AI, we will start to lose the craft.
My solution: Take an active role in nurturing human talent. My commitment is to invest my time in those who are looking to learn and grow in the industry. From mentorship to advice, I feel it's important now more than ever to share my experience and I hope others will come to the same conclusion.
Conscientious use
I believe ethical AI use is possible:
- Beating bias:
AI models are inherently biased,
so intentional prompting to protect the diversity of the real world is imperative: body types, ages, ethnicities, abilities and identities are always front of mind when creating imagery of people.
- Mindful usage:
Having a genuine process that prioritises human creative prevents overconsumption. Taking pen to paper will always be my first approach if I want to explore an idea to stay sharp and act sustainably.
- Protecting creative rights:
Fundamentally, all AI models have scalped the works of thousands of creatives – there is no 'good' provider, but I endeavour to be as cautious as possible. That means researching the way different models source their training data, and never using another artist's works or prompting to match their style.
- Restricted to output: AI takes no other part in my workflow; note-taking, strategy, concepting, research... The more I used it, the more I realised I prefer the autonomy, and I can do everything just as well, if not better. Faster? No, but still fast.