Piotr Owczarek: Can Human Creativity Exist Alongside AI’s Generative Potential?

Prometheus’s gift of fire to humanity ignited progress but came at a personal cost. Today, businesses face a similar crossroads with generative AI: harness its power wisely or risk unforeseen consequences.

As AI revolutionizes industries, what becomes of human creativity?

More businesses of all sizes begin to adopt generative AI, changes in the workforce become apparent. Many jobs eliminated as automation in the fields of graphic design, content creation, video editing and many more becomes the norm. Not necessarily cutting out the human touch entirely, simply making it easier for less people to do more. A gradual shift to coexistence – at the very least – between creatives and generative AI is well on its way. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Nor should it be resisted. Glimpses into the past reveal humanity’s longing – or destiny – for creating artificial life. As imagined by the Ancient Greeks, the figure of Hephaestus, created multiple anthropomorphic entities – endowing them with life to serve various purposes. Pandora and Talos being the two most prominent examples.

As AI’s inevitability becomes a reality, does the need for human creativity render itself obsolete? Have modern businesses paved a way for sacrificing creatives’ jobs for the sake of profit and efficiency?

Winds of Change: Displacement, Not Replacement

Perhaps it isn’t so much about replacement, rather displacement. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella argues that “There will be jobs, the question is the shape of these jobs. If anything, these tools can be very helpful with getting us the skills for what is the new set of tasks,”.

This new set of tasks entails vacancies in need of filling. Instead of replacing jobs, Mr. Nadella claims that AI will reshape their nature. If we look at what ChatGPT has brought to the table we get a rough idea of what this means.

Let’s take a hypothetical scenario. A marketing department had assigned a copywriter, social media manager, blog content writer – let’s also throw in a video script writer. The department head can now downsize the team to two people, if not one. ChatGPT can not only answer questions, but also compose a variety of text types in a variety of styles. The only thing left for these two people to do is: 1) learn about AI prompting and 2) get basic training in tasks they took over.

This basic example reveals only the tip of the iceberg. When factories replaced workers with machines because of the benefits of automation, jobs were lost. Despite that, since the industrial revolution for every job lost to machine, at least one new job opened up for a human. Why wouldn’t the same be true for the tertiary (service) and quaternary (information) sectors?

The Creative Workforce of the Future

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a warning that AI will impact almost 40% of all jobs. The organization has stated that advanced economies will feel a greater effect, with approximately 60% of positions being affected.

Labour and jobs are one thing. Human input and creativity are another. At the end of this decade, the projected market volume of Generative AI stands at €189.8bn. With the USA set to dominate the majority of the market and AI’s industry as a whole. In his book, 21 Lessons for the 21^st Century, Yuval Noah Harari presents the case that this will lead to the emergence of a new “useless class” of employees. As the technological revolution spins its wheels faster and faster, the world may start heading in the direction of social and political upheavals – affecting corporations and individuals.

What about businesses “creative” departments or industries-like Marketing or Video Production?

Economist’s all over the world believe that AI will eventually (sooner than later) transform the global economy. For this to happen, corporations–that haven’t already– will need to invest heavily in software. Even when relying on outsourced AI companies like Open AI or C3.ai, this still represents an investment. Let’s anchor in on how this relates to human emotion. With each passing second, AI programs have the potential to expand their understanding of human biochemistry. Beginning to outperform homo sapiens in emotional intelligence, as well as intelligence. Argued by many to be a key component of successful Marketers, Artists and Creatives as a whole.

For CEOs, the challenge becomes not just in adopting AI, but in retraining their workforce and fostering an environment where human creativity can flourish alongside AI. The real challenge lies in integrating AI into workflows outside industries like IT which are further ahead in adoption (20% compared to others).

Greatest Single Human Gift: the Ability to Chase Down Our Dreams

One doesn’t have to look far to see what is actually happening. From my personal experience, a drastic change in the nature of the tasks has occurred.

A limiting factor of language learning models (LLM’s) like ChatGPT, are their tendency for generalization. Indeed, with the right prompt, this can be mitigated, if not entirely overcome. However, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s generative capacity (as good as it is) is still limited. For some this may be a relief. For others, not so.

AI generative programs can not only generate text but also: images, videos, voices, and music. Quite recently Adobe announced new AI generative tools and features available within almost all of their Creative Suite programs. Such as removing objects, generating reflections or backgrounds, and other time saving additions. While Now and Then – the latest Beatles song – was produced with the assistance of a neural network program, MAL. AI’s potential to copy or replicate artists at an industrial scale poses a major threat to the “human touch” in entertainment. From a business standpoint, however, this may seem like a godsend.

Human Element in a Tech World

For creatives a brighter future awaits, with AI becoming a collaborator, not a competitor. Indeed, job loss is and will be a reality. With or without AI. In secondary and tertiary sectors. Job anxieties are frequently overblown. Think of painters and photographers. Imagine being an acquaintance of Niépce (creator of the first photograph using heliography) in the 19^th century. An acquaintance who was a painter. You would probably have assumed that his invention would replace your craft. Yet 200+ years on, painters and photographers are not only both categorized as artists, but often intertwine their respective arts for single projects.

Whenever thinking of AI and its role in collaborating with artists, I think of Jarvis – Iron Man’s personal AI assistant. Working with him, not against him. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, shares my interpretation—quite literally, in fact, as he once stated, “Jarvis, my virtual assistant, manages my life.” Although most people are not as fortunate as Mr. Zuckerberg, this form of AI presents a growth opportunity rather than a limitation for creatives. Allowing for 1) higher independence 2) increased efficiency 3) more possibilities 4) quicker knowledge retrieval.

As I heard someone once say:

Everyone can become an expert in anything because they have an AI assistant.

In recent years people have become mechanistic and repetitive in what they do. The use of templates on Canva is a perfect example. How many times have you scrolled through LinkedIn to find – more or less – the same type of graphic/style of a post by different people/businesses? They’re probably using Canva. Who can blame them. It saves time and makes marketing more efficient. Especially when dealing with a large asset management load.

Summing Up: AI Odyssey

Even the might of Olympus couldn’t persevere eternally.

As we embrace AI, let’s envision a future where technology amplifies human creativity, not diminishes it. By leveraging AI as a collaborator, we can unlock new heights of innovation and productivity.

In my view AI will co-exist with humanity on all levels. Imagine, home assistant androids doing the dishes and maintaining our homes. Your local mechanic sits in his office eating a sandwich, as his fan wafts the scent of ham & cheese into the garage, which is occupied by robots engaged in manual labour. Artists composing in their bedroom, alone, with a computer and AI program, creating music that emulates artists and instruments of any kind.

Yes, jobs will be replaced. Many will find that their life’s trade has become obsolete. Although, when has this not been the case?

Even bypassing AI, people have always found themselves being replaced. In many industries, technology gradually replaced the need for strict human involvement.

AI is inevitable. Something ends; something begins. It’s up to us to be part of the beginning.