Latest news with #brainstorming
Fast Company
3 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
The case for making AI your creative brainstorming partner
BY Listen to this Article More info 0:00 / 6:00 Creativity has been heralded as our last irreplaceable skill, the one thing machines could never touch. Yet in offices everywhere, teams hit the same walls: blank screens, stale ideas, the exhausting churn of brainstorming sessions that go nowhere. The promise of human ingenuity feels increasingly at odds with the reality of modern work, where the demand for fresh thinking has never been higher, but the conditions for producing it have never been worse. It's awkward to admit, but we're not brainstorming the way we used to. It's not that we've lost the ability. Creative thinking remains the lifeblood of everything from product development to marketing campaigns. But the uncomfortable truth is that we no longer have the luxury of time for the classical creative process. The slow simmer of ideas, the meandering discussions, and the trial and error that once defined innovation have been compressed into frantic sprints. We're still creative, but we're drowning in the busywork that keeps us from accessing that creativity when we need it most. We're in the decade of the creative bottleneck For years, innovation has unfolded at a breakneck pace, but the evidence suggests things are slowing. The low-hanging fruit of the digital revolution has been picked, and the next wave of breakthroughs requires more than incremental tweaks. Yet the very systems meant to foster creativity have become clogged with bureaucracy and inefficiency. Consider the latest estimates on how knowledge workers spend their time: they waste 3.6 hours each week managing internal workplace communication, another 2.8 hours searching for or requesting information they need to do their jobs, and an additional 2.2 hours trapped in unnecessary or unproductive meetings. That's nearly a full day every week lost to process rather than progress. White-collar workers, especially in tech, were supposed to be the disruptors—the ones breaking old models and inventing new ones. Instead, they've become administrators of their own stagnation. We can't create more time, but we can rethink what creativity actually is At its core, creativity isn't the romanticized lightning strike of inspiration—it's a grueling, mechanical process. It requires grinding through bad ideas, hitting dead ends, and enduring countless revisions before arriving at something worthwhile. The hardest part? Ideation—the raw generation of new concepts. Humans aren't wired to produce fresh ideas on demand. Our brains cling to familiar patterns, get stuck in ruts, and freeze under pressure. But this is precisely where AI excels. Where we see a blank page, an AI sees infinite permutations. Where we fatigue after a dozen iterations, an AI can generate thousands without losing focus. Here's the real opportunity: if improving an idea by 5% used to take two weeks of human deliberation, what happens when AI can deliver that same 5% gain in 30 minutes? Suddenly, those incremental improvements compound exponentially. The bottleneck isn't the quality of our thinking; it's the speed at which we can cycle through possibilities. AI is actually very good at the creative process Where AI thrives is in the parts of creativity that humans find most draining: the relentless generation of variations, the cold-eyed evaluation of options, the pattern recognition across vast datasets. These are the unglamorous foundations of innovation, the behind-the-scenes work that makes the 'aha' moments possible. Think about it. Humans can run at 15 mph tops; cars can go 200 mph. We don't insist on sprinting everywhere just to prove our legs work. We use technology to extend our natural capabilities. Why should thinking be any different? Humans simply aren't built to crank out a hundred versions of a logo, or a thousand variations of a marketing message, then dispassionately select the strongest. Our attention falters, our judgment clouds, our patience wears thin. But for AI, this is trivial. It doesn't need coffee breaks or pep talks. It doesn't get attached to pet ideas or succumb to groupthink. It just generates, analyzes, and iterates—exactly the skills needed to break through creative logjams. This isn't about replacing human judgment. It's about augmenting it. The real value of AI lies in its ability to handle the brute-force labor of creativity, leaving us free to focus on what humans do best: refining, contextualizing, and applying ideas with taste and strategic insight. It's the difference between digging a foundation with a shovel and using an excavator. The end goal isn't the tool— it's the building. We don't have to cede complete creative control To be clear, this isn't about surrendering creativity to machines. AI lacks our intuition, our cultural awareness, our understanding of human nuance; the very qualities that make our best ideas resonate. The breakthroughs of the next decade won't come from AI working alone, but from humans wielding AI as the ultimate creative accelerator. The real paradigm shift is recognizing that AI isn't here to replace human creativity, but to unstick it. For years, we've treated brainstorming as a sacred ritual, as if the magic were in the method rather than the outcome. But what if the magic is actually in removing the friction between thought and execution? We need to let machines do what they do best (generating and sorting possibilities at superhuman scale) so we can focus on what we do best (selecting, shaping, and elevating the best ideas). The next big idea might be waiting in iteration #387—and thanks to AI, we might actually have time to find it. The early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is Friday, September 5, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kevin Li is the SVP, Product Strategy & Operations at Optimizely, where he leads product strategy, including the strategic roadmap, new product launches, as well as M&A and corporate development. More
Fast Company
02-07-2025
- Health
- Fast Company
Struggling with creativity? You may be Googling too much, says new study
We can all agree that the internet is an never-ending repository of information. But new research out of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has found that, in some cases, 'Googling' can get in the way of a good brainstorm session and actually hinder creativity. In a recent study published in the journal Memory & Cognition, researchers asked participants to brainstorm new ways to use one of two common objects—a shield or an umbrella—either with or without internet access. In some trials, study participants could access Google search; in other trials, they couldn't use a search engine. Of the groups, those with access to Google, for the most part, came up with the same common answers, often in the same exact order. '[That's because] they relied on Google, while non-Google users came up with more distinct answers,' lead study author Danny Oppenheimer, professor at CMU's Department of Social and Decision Sciences, explained. That is to say, researchers found that while individual creativity may be enhanced by internet access, groups articulate fewer novel solutions when provided internet access, suggesting that internet access may constrain collective creative fluency. Said another way: 'Thinking outside the box means thinking outside the search engine.' This could be an example of 'fixation effects,' where being shown a possible solution influences participants to think of similar answers, but also obstructs them from thinking of new or different answers. For example, Oppenheimer said, when given a prompt such as 'things you might spread,' participants with access to Google might suggest 'butter' or 'jam,' while others who lack internet search access might suggest something along the lines of 'disease' or 'rumors.' Oppenheimer said we should accept that internet access is changing the way people think and problem solve, but instead of banning search engines, we should learn how to use them better. 'The internet isn't making us dumb, but we may be using it in ways that aren't helpful,' he added. Oppenheimer and study coauthor Mark Patterson, an assistant teaching professor at CMU's Department of Social and Decision Sciences, think different prompt engineering strategies might lead to different, even better, results. 'Our hope is that by studying how human thought interacts with technology use, we can figure out ways to glean the best of the internet while minimizing the negative consequences,' Patterson said.
CNET
01-07-2025
- CNET
NotebookLM Is the Perfect AI Tool for School or Work. Here's What It Does
If there was a single AI tool that I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone, it would be NotebookLM by a mile. It's true that it's not a standard chatbot like Gemini (though it is powered by Google's AI) or ChatGPT, but this tool can find its place into most people's live's in one form or another. NotebookLM breaks down complex subjects into an easy-to-understand format, assists in brainstorming new ideas and other helpful student and worker driven features. There's now a mobile app for iOS and Android that makes it easy to use on the go. It keeps getting better without feeling like it's becoming overstuffed with features just for the sake of it. I appreciated the concept of what NotebookLM could do when it was first announced and enjoyed casually tinkering with it, but experiencing it in the real world -- and at a time when I needed a tool like it to exist -- solidified how awesome NotebookLM really is to me. This is easily my favorite AI tool and use it nearly every day. Everything Announced at Google I/O 2025 Everything Announced at Google I/O 2025 Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 15:40 Loaded : 3.80% 00:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 15:40 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Everything Announced at Google I/O 2025 NotebookLM isn't just Google Keep stuffed with AI, nor is it just a chatbot that can take notes. It's both and neither. Instead of asking questions to Gemini, only for it to find an answer from the ether of the internet, NotebookLM will only search through the sources that you provide it. It's a dead simple concept that feels like one of the most practical uses of AI, giving way to the perfect study buddy for classes or work. And Google didn't stop there. Now it can do so much more, and will reward your poking around to see what it can do for you. And features like its impressive Audio Overviews have since trickled down into Gemini itself, allowing it to be used in a much wider set of Google's products. Below, I'll cover some of NotebookLM's most interesting features (including the newly announced ones) and how it became one of my favorite AI tools. For more, check out Google's smart glasses plans with AndroidXR. What is NotebookLM? NotebookLM is a Gemini-powered note-taking and research assistant tool that can be used in a multitude of ways. It all starts with the sources you feed it, whether they're webpage URLs, YouTube videos or audio clips, allowing you to pull multiple sources together into a cohesive package and bring some organization to your scattered thoughts or notes. The most obvious use case for NotebookLM is using it for school or work. Think of it -- you've kept up with countless classes and typed notes down for every one and even perhaps recorded some lectures. Sifting through everything individually can eventually get you to some semblance of understanding, but what if you could get them to work together? Once you've uploaded your sources, Gemini will get to work to create an overall summary of the material. From there, you can begin asking Gemini questions about specific topics on the sources and information from the sources will be displayed in an easy-to-understand format. This alone may be enough for some people just looking to get the most out of their notes, but that's really just scratching the surface. Available for desktop and mobile NotebookLM has a three-panel layout. Screenshot by Blake Stimac/CNET NotebookLM has been available for a while now on the desktop and is broken into a three-panel layout, consisting of Source, Chat and Studio panels. Both the Source and Studio panels are collapsible, so you can have a full-screen chat experience if you prefer. While the Source and Chat panels are pretty self-explanatory, the Studio panel is where magic can happen (though some of the features can also be created directly from the Chat panel). This is where you can get the most out of your NotebookLM experience. The NotebookLM app: The Philosopher's Stone for data, in your pocket The mobile app for Android and iOS launched the day before Google I/O 2025. Screenshots by Blake Stimac/CNET Those familiar with the desktop experience will feel right at home with the new mobile apps for iOS and Android. The streamlined app allows you to switch between the Source, Chat and Studio panels via a menu at the bottom. When you go to the view that shows all of your notebooks, you'll see tabs for Recent, Shared, Title and Downloaded. While not everything is on the app yet, it's likely just a matter of time before it matches the web version's full functionality. Audio Overviews If you didn't hear about NotebookLM when it was first announced, you likely did when Audio Overviews were released for it. Once you have at least one source uploaded, you can then opt to generate an Audio Overview, which will provide a "deep dive" on the source material. These overviews are created by none other than Gemini, and it's not just a quick summary of your material in audio format -- it's a full-blown podcast with two "hosts" that break down complex topics into easy-to-understand pieces of information. They're incredibly effective, too, often asking each other questions to dismantle certain topics. The default length of an Audio Overview will vary depending on how much material there is to go over and the complexity of the topic -- though I'm sure there are other factors at play. In my testing, a very short piece of text created a five-minute audio clip, whereas two lengthier and more dense Google Docs documents I uploaded created an 18-minute Overview. If you want a little more control on the length for your Audio Overview, you're in luck. Announced in a blog post during Google I/O earlier this month, users now have three options to choose from: shorter, default and longer. This is perfect if you either want to have a short and dense podcast-like experience of if you want to get into the nitty gritty on a subject with a longer Audio Overview. You can interact with your AI podcasters It gets even better. Last December, NotebookLM got a new design and new ways to interact with Audio Overviews. The customize button allows you to guide the conversation so that key points are covered. Type in your directive and then generate your Audio Overview. Now, if you want to make this feature even more interactive, you can choose the Interactive mode, which is still in beta, to join the conversation. The clip will play, and if you have a particular question in response to something that's said, you can click the join button. Once you do, the speakers will pause and acknowledge your presence and ask you to chime in with thoughts or questions, and you'll get a reply. I wanted to try something a little different, so I threw in the lyrics of a song as the only source, and the AI podcast duo began to dismantle the motivations and emotions behind the words. I used the join feature to point out a detail in the lyrics they didn't touch on, and the two began to dissect what my suggestion meant in the context of the writing. They then began linking the theme to other portions of the text. It was impressive to watch: They handled the emotional weight of the song so well, and tactfully at that. Mind Maps Generating a Mind Map is just one of several powerful features from NotebookLM. Google/Screenshot by CNET I'd heard interesting things about NotebookLM's Mind Map feature, but I wanted to go in blind when I tried it out, so I did a separate test. I took roughly 1,500 words of Homer's Odyssey and made that my only source. I then clicked the Mind Map button, and within seconds, an interactive and categorical breakdown of the text was displayed for me to poke around in. Many of the broken-down sections had subsections for deeper dives, some of which were dedicated to single lines for dissection. Clicking on a category or end-point of the map will open the chat with a prefilled prompt. I chose to dive into the line, "now without remedy," and once clicked, the chat portion of NotebookLM reopened with the prefilled prompt, "Discuss what these sources say about Now without remedy, in the larger context of [the subsection] Alternative (worse)." The full line was displayed, including who said it, what it was in response to and any motivations (or other references) for why the line was said in the text. Study guides and more If the combination of all that Audio Overviews and Mind Maps could do sounds like everything a student might need for the perfect study buddy, NotebookLM has a few other features that will solidify it in that place. Study guides After you've uploaded a source, you can create a quick study guide based on the material that will automatically provide a document with a quiz, potential essay questions, a glossary of key terms and answers for the quiz at the bottom. And if you want, you can even convert the study guide into a source for your notebook. FAQs Whether you're using it for school or want to create a FAQ page for your website, the NotebookLM button generates a series of potentially common questions based on your sources. Timeline If you're looking for a play-by-play sort of timeline, it's built right in. Creating a timeline for the Odyssey excerpt broke down main events in a bulleted list and placed them based on the times mentioned in the material. If an event takes place at an unspecified time, it will appear at the top of the timeline, stating this. A cast of characters for reference is also generated below the timeline of events. Briefing document The briefing document is just what it sounds like, giving you a quick snapshot of the key themes and important events to get someone up to speed. This will include specific quotes from the source and their location. A summary of the material is also created at the bottom of the document. How NotebookLM really 'sold' me I already really liked NotebookLM's concept and execution during its 1.0 days, and revisiting the new features only strengthened my appreciation for it. My testing was mostly for fun and to see how this tool can flex, but using it when I "needed" it helped me really get an idea of how powerful it can be, even for simple things. During a product briefing, I did my typical note-taking: Open a Google Doc, start typing in fragmented thoughts on key points, and hope I could translate what I meant when I needed to refer back to them. I knew I would also receive an official press release, so I wasn't (too) worried about it, but I wanted to put NotebookLM to the test in a real-world situation when I was using it for real -- and not just tinkering, when nearly anything seems impressive when it does what you tell it to. I decided to create a new notebook and make my crude notes (which looked like a series of bad haikus at first glance) the only source, just to see what came out on the other end. Not only did NotebookLM fill in the blanks, but the overall summary read almost as well as the press release I received the following day. I was impressed. It felt alchemical -- NotebookLM took some fairly unintelligible language and didn't just turn it into something passable, but rather, a pretty impressive description. Funny enough, I've since become a more thorough note-taker, but I'm relieved to know I have something that can save the day if I need it to. Video Overviews are on the way Another feature that was announced during Google I/O was Video Overviews, and it's exactly what it sounds like. There's currently no time frame outside of "coming soon" from the blog post, but it should be a good way to get a more visual experience from your notebooks. We'd previously heard that Video Overviews might be on the way, thanks to some sleuthing from Testing Catalog. The article also mentioned that the ability to make your notebooks publicly available and view an Editor's Picks list of notebooks will eventually make their way to NotebookLM. The Editors Picks feature has yet to rear its head, but you can indeed now share notebooks directly or make them publicly available for anyone to access. While we're waiting on View Overviews, here's a preview of one. If you need more from NotebookLM, consider upgrading Most people will likely never have the need to pay for NotebookLM, as the free version is robust enough. But if you're using it for work and need to be able to add more sources or the option to share your notebook with multiple people, NotebookLM Plus is worth considering. It gives you more of everything while introducing more customization, additional privacy and security features as well as analytics. It's worth noting that NotebookLM Plus will also be packaged in with Google's new AI subscriptions. For more, don't miss Google's going all-in on AI video with Flow and Veo 3.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ChatGPT harms ‘diversity of thought' during brainstorms, study finds
This story was originally published on HR Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily HR Dive newsletter. Artifical intelligence has been shown to help generate ideas, but there's a tradeoff, according to a new study out of the Mack Institute for Innovation Management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Authors of the study — Mack Institute fellow Lennart Meincke, Wharton professor Gideon Nave, and Mack Institute co-director Christian Terwiesch — found that while ChatGPT can enhance the creativity of individual ideas, it reduces diversity of thought within a group's ideas. That element can be the key to successful brainstorming. For example, participants were asked to invent toys using a brick and a fan. Among those using ChatGPT, 94% of the ideas they generated shared overlapping concepts, with nine participants independently giving their toy the same name, 'Build-a-Breeze Castle.' By contrast, human-generated ideas were completely unique, the study found. Overall, across five experiments, ChatGBT-assisted brainstorming sessions consistently produced narrower sets of ideas, according to the researchers. The findings highlight how overly relying on gen AI 'can limit the breadth of perspectives, even when individual ideas seem original,' a media release stated. In the employment context, over-reliance on AI tools is a familiar theme among 'the wild west mentality,' as one organizational psychologist dubbed it, of businesses racing to embrace the technology without being fully aware of how to implement it or the implications of doing so in its current form. But the human factor is still crucial. Both formal studies and individual anecdotes make clear that employers will likely face unwelcome setbacks by not taking it into account. For instance, almost 8 in 10 U.S. job seekers believe generative AI is appropriate during the hiring process for drafting resumes and cover letters and creating mock interview questions, according to an April report from Express Employment Professonals and The Harris Poll. On the other hand, 87% of the 1,000 job seekers surveyed said it's also important that humans — not bots — interview job candidates, arguing AI can't effectively vet candidates for soft skills such as cultural fit and attitude. The attitude is appearing across social media as well. 'If they don't have the decency to interview you face to face, they aren't worth your time,' one commenter said in response to a viral TikTok video of a robot conducting a glitched interview. Rushing to replace head count with AI may also lead to regrets, according to a recent survey by organizational design and planning software platform Orgvue. More than half of the business leaders who did so admitted they made the wrong decision, many confessing they didn't know which roles would benefit most from AI, the survey found. Productivity gains that AI promises require a partnership between people and machines — and intentional upskilling, Orgvue's CEO emphasized. Meanwhile, the authors of the Mack Institute study offer this tip for leaders seeking to boost team innovation and creativity: 'In real-world problem-solving, the true value of brainstorming stems from the diversity of ideas rather than multiple voices repeating similar thoughts,' they said. 'As original as transforming a tennis racket and a garden hose into a sprinkler may be, successful brainstorming would yield a mosaic of unique perspectives – not just a lineup of sprinklers,' the authors added. Recommended Reading Is the learning industry facing disruption — again?
Forbes
26-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Next Casualty Of AI: The Lost Art Of Brainstorming
Latin American woman making a business presentation in a meeting at a creative office and pointing ... More to her team her business plan AI will not only kill jobs. It will kill critical functions, too. In 2024, I wrote about the first unintended consequence of AI: fundamental communication skills, the ones, when developed, become part of the foundation of great companies. In essence, AI is now doing what our new employees should be doing. Once the window for that has passed, it doesn't return. This, by the way, holds true for entry-level jobs in computer science like programming and coding; legal services like paralegals and assistants; and graphic arts like animation, preproduction, and post-production. Where has all the brainstorming gone? Serious enough, but so far, it's been about skills. Now, though, AI has shown it also kills - or at least has the power to kill – critical functions in the process. For instance, when was the last time you were part of a brainstorming session or long-term program? That question is rhetorical. We already know the answer. The reason for this is simple and obvious. Brainstorming is hard work (at least in the beginning) and AI is more than easy; brainstorming requires patience and AI is instant gratification; in brainstorming, the truth that there could always be more than one good answer is evident and in AI we tend to accept what shows up. There's an old saying – Never let a conclusion be where you got tired of thinking – and that just about sums it up. Bring back brainstorming – And Make It Succeed As it's been a while since you've brainstormed (don't BS me; yes, it has), here's a guide – and a most basic one – to help bring it all back home. Let this be where we start . The Five Commandments of Brainstorming 1. Make it cultural. It's not an event; it's an ingrained process to be done in frequent intervals. Sometimes a surprise brainstorming get together is highly productive. No one is a spectator – young and old, senior and junior, new or long-term, admin and executive. All in the same meeting. Diversity is a strength. Jack Welch used to say, 'Listen to the new guy.' 2. Brainstorming shoud be short. Short time spans – no more than 45 minutes – and small groups of people – 6-8, optimally. Let it get personal when necessary. Pizza lunches or bagel breakfasts are brainstorming hot houses. 3. No judgment. Ever. Encourage everyone's contribution. You never know where the next great idea will come from. There's no such thing as a bad idea, just ideas that may not work right now. Allow no negative reactions as ideas are generated. This is a time for dimension building. 4. Build on the ideas of others. This is a real source of power. Creativity doesn't exist in a vacuum. Whenever the word 'but' is used, replace it with 'and.' Watch the enormous effect of that change. 5. Do not discard any ideas. Ever. Record and post all ideas as they're offered. Reduce list to a small number of key ideas. This is where you find the diamonds. Refer to your archives from time to time. More diamonds. Brainstorming Sum and Substance We must not let brainstorming recede into the dust of history. If we do, then we're next.
