My Thoughts on AI

The Fear:
AI has certainly become a lightning rod of an issue, especially in the creative field. There are an endless amount of AI tools out there, with more arriving almost daily. This is allowing creative execution to now be accessible to a mass audience of participants that are not in the creative sphere.

Obviously, this is a daunting prospect to those who have spent years honing their craft with a pencil and paper, Photoshop, or with a camera. However, all is not lost.

The Truth:
AI, at it's core, is a new set of software tools to use. These tools can be used to be much more efficient on tasks that were formerly time consuming. They can be used to expedite resesarch on a brand, audience, or product to gain new insights. And, like the images on this page, they can be used to visualize the ideas and concepts bouncing around in your head at a mind bending rate with impressive quality.

These are fantastic benefits that are now available to all. But, what AI cannot do is provide Wisdom, Skill, and Taste to the user.

Creatives have the Wisdom to know what questions to ask of AI to get the most out of the research on a brand. We have the design and writing Skills built up over years to know how to get to the end goal of a project, and how to leverage multiple tools to get there. And, perhaps most importantly, we have Taste - the ability to know what looks good, who to cast, what camera angle will look best, what feels most emotional in a rough cut. In short, creatives have the profressional experience to leverage AI tools in ways that non-creatives lack.

Experience is key. The work here in my portfolio outside of this AI section was made prior to the AI explosion of the last year. It's been designed and crafted with knowledge gained over years of work. Each project shown in my Personal Projects section was born out of a personal experience unique to me. It all represents a connection, investment, and craft to the work that a typed in prompt alone cannot replicate.

The Conclusion:
Time change, and technology advances. I've used and am using AI to research, brainstorm, and create concepts for projects and pitches. It's part of the toolset and the job now. Thankfully, the professional foundation and experience that I have built up allow me to leverage this tecnology in service of the work, client, and audience, not simply to use technology for technology's sake.