Human-AI synergy can be tops if we’re in driving seat

There are many dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) – but perhaps one of the biggest is that so many of us think we shouldn’t be a part of it.

That the process is happening without us humans; meta-worlds away in the synthetic mind of some supercomputer.

It’s my belief that more of us should be collaborating with the most powerful tools we have yet made; for thinking, problem-solving and – the most human of all endeavours – creating.

Because if we do, we can do impossible human things and unlock a creative future like never before. That, at least, has been my personal experience.

After some 25 years in traditional advertising, my partners and I believed so much in the power of creative tech that we started Monkey Donkey Creative AiGency.

We augment our human creative skills with various AI and tech platforms and collaborate with a range of amazing humans (from clients to agencies and other creative partners) so we can tell human stories in new ways.

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And I have never felt more creatively empowered. Or hopeful. Or more in touch with the humans that I work with.

The key is putting our human selves, our human creativity, and our human thoughts at the centre of the process.

Sure, you can just push a button and ChatGPT (or a ton of others) will write you an ad. Then just push another button and Midjourney (or a ton of others) will make you a pretty picture to go with it.

But I’ll bet the farm (the one I am dreaming of in the tranquil Karoo) that the output will be vanilla, generic and forgettable – and is simply going to add more noise to the already cacophonic world of media.

Prompting is the term given for directing AI – the user writes commands or prompts into the program. With just a few words you can create something passable. But creating something meaningful, takes real effort.

Often our end products are the result of hundreds of prompts and different approaches. Prompting can, and should, be a creative thinking process.

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Used carelessly, these tools have the power to flood us with mediocrity. But when they’re used right, they have the power to unlock potential like never before. For instance, your kid can quite easily get AI tools to do their homework for them.

But, if they insert themselves into the process and collaborate with the tools in the right way, AI can also be their most incredible personal tutor, able to help them think in completely new ways and push them even further.

But it doesn’t mean AI is sentient. As amazing as it is, it’s just code, algorithms and hardware made by humans. ChatGPT doesn’t know you – or want to take over your world.

It’s not even aware that you exist. It’s a blinking cursor, eternally waiting for human interaction and direction. It bounces off you. And if you want it to, this incredible combination of technologies will give you superpowers.

But you have to put yourself firmly in the mix – and drive the process. It may lack consciousness, but it can become a canvas that reflects our deepest ingenuity.

AI is also not a fad that is simply going to disappear. In The Coming Wave, AI forerunner, Mustafa Suleyman, predicts that AI will have a much greater impact than the advent of the internet, and that this will happen at a much greater pace.

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To give you some scale, think about how much the internet has changed your world – messaging, social media, search, navigation, news, shopping, choosing a holiday, finding a great restaurant (or the right doctor), never mind financial systems, stock exchanges or the platforms that countries run on.

Rightly or wrongly, it seems almost inconceivable to imagine our lives without the internet baked deep into it.

And if AI will have an even greater impact in the next few years, what should we do? Shy away? Curse it? Ignore it? None of these will make it go away. Nor will it unlock the huge potential it is offering you.

The future should be co-authored by humanity – not written by AI alone. It should be influenced by you, your thoughts and your human values.

Perhaps the most defining stories of our age will be written by those who choose to wield these tools with integrity, imagination and intention.

So, lets bravely embrace the future – with humanity at the heart of creative exploration.

– Stobbs is chief creation officer at Monkey Donkey Creative AiGency.