Creative intelligence versus artificial intelligence

Fast Company

2 days ago

This may come as a surprise, but as a creative and an owner of a CPG design agency, I actually love AI. I just recognize its limitations.
For me, those limitations are even embedded in the term 'artificial intelligence.' Could anything defined as being 'artificial' really summon the full range of what is natural? Especially when it comes to intelligence and what we can create with it?
AI is only as good as what I give it. It helps me synthesize my thoughts and perfect what I'm prompting with my typed-in keywords and questions. In other words, AI helps me get crystal clear on what I want, and it lets me do it fast, which can satiate my desire or need to get things done quickly.
But let's be real. When the highest excellence is your standard, AI can only provide a scaffolding from which to work. The end effect is always too bland, lacking the depth and details that provide a powerful, emotional pull for consumers.
Sometimes, the things that are missing are hard to define, but in those intangibles, worlds are lost. AI simply can't compare to its more natural version—what I like to call creative intelligence—that irreplaceable human aspect that recognizes subtlety, synergistic connections, and what can't be translated into a simple search term.
I want my creative work to always sparkle. AI doesn't offer that. But what it can do—sometimes—is offer a first spark. It can extend a starting point as I circle around an idea. Then it's up to me to drive that idea to the finish line using my creative intelligence to continually refine my request and see through what it churns out to hidden possibilities behind or around it.
Can I get there without using AI? Of course. We creatives have been doing that for decades. But with this tool, we save time. It's a basic building block, just like much of the software and tools we use to create. It outsources some preliminary work so we can then direct more of our energy into the precise, specialty work that draws upon our deepest individual gifts of creativity.
I don't fear this new tool. I do, though, take care in my use of it and teach my employees to utilize it the right way. When using AI to reach toward a creative starting place, I've learned it's essential to:
Do your homework first. Know what your needs are.
Be specific when describing those needs. Make your keywords as keen, laser-focused, and thorough as possible. Describe the tone you want. Using examples as details is key to getting what you want out of AI effectively.
Use your strategic insight to continually refine the keywords and prompts you're providing until the results feel closer to something you want to work with.
When you find something that inspires you, use it as a starting place—never a landing place. From there, bring your creative intelligence into the work and take it from good to brilliant. Clean it up. Add more detail. Personalize it more deeply to your voice and audience. Make the generic feel singular.
Always remember that this tool is open-source, so nothing you feed it is private. Be aware that what you feed the machine—including names, ideas, and prompts—could surface publicly in the future.
Don't lose your connection to basic skills. I'm a happy user of Google Maps, but if my phone dies, I can still read a map and get where I need to go. In the same way, as a creative, it's still important to know how to do what you may now outsource at times.
There's no denying that AI has arrived, and it is advancing quickly. I believe by fighting it we just miss an opportunity to grow and learn new tricks. If we use it thoughtfully, it can help us be more successful. And more than that—it can, in fact, let us lean deeper into what makes us each uniquely human.