Creativity, artificial intelligence, and artificial creativity

We share a new column by Sebastián Stagno, partner and Chief Creative Officer at La América, where he shares his vision on creativity following the emergence of Chat GPT, Dall-E, and Midjourney. We’ll also learn about his take on serious Artificial Intelligence, something surprising that promises to be a turning point in something we don’t fully understand yet.

Creativity

Advertising has changed a lot in recent years. It no longer holds the monopoly on attention that it once did when we all watched the same TV program or sports event at the same time.

Except for a few instances like the Super Bowl, the World Cup final, or Big Brother, today’s reality is different. The audience is scattered all over the place, and although it leaves traces of where it’s been, advertising agencies and brands have had to double down on efforts to capture just a few seconds of their attention.

In this new advertising world, the question that remains unanswered is this: Is creativity still a differentiator today?

Some say that a good idea is essential to grab the public's attention, regardless of the target audience.

It makes sense when we see the importance of content creation, something that tech giants know, seek, and pay for.

But there are also those who believe that in brand communication, ingenuity and effort should be focused on the precise distribution of the message, even more so than its creative content. 

Artificial Intelligence

As if that wasn’t enough, one morning (I say it this way because I didn’t see it coming), we were met with something called Chat GPT, Dall-E, or Midjourney. Real Artificial Intelligence. Something surprising that promises to be a before and after of something we don’t quite understand yet.

Because, after the initial shock, some questions remain. Or, to put it more scientifically, some fears.

What is it, and what will it be capable of doing?

Is it here to solve our problems, or is it a threat to human jobs?

Can it create?

What about copyright?

And so, many questions remain unanswered. 

Artificial Creativity

Let’s return to advertising and the question of whether creativity is still a differentiator today. Consider that there is already a tool capable of simulating a creative agency through artificial intelligence. In other words, an agency without people that fulfills client requests by generating ideas that, I imagine, come from some mischievous algorithm.

(Note: this tool was created by a creative agency. I’m constantly surprised by humanity's voracious desire to surpass its own capabilities, even to its own detriment.)

The thing is, this tool can send those “ideas” in minutes. I put “ideas” in quotes because I tried it myself, and I’m a bit confused.

For example, I asked for ideas for a TV spot for a beer aimed at young people, with the goal of making them want to try it.

What did I get back? A group of young people dancing with t-shirts bearing the brand’s logo, smiling and enjoying themselves.

That’s not creativity. At least not the kind I advocate for.

Although, it’s true that this is often how people perceive advertising—fake people, fake enjoyment.

So, even more so, once again: Is creativity still a differentiator today?

For the sake of humanity and a little bit for my profession, I hope it is. 

If You Can’t Beat It…

Right now, we’re running a campaign for Quilmes. We asked people to describe what music festivals mean to them in three words. We fed the responses into an AI tool that, in seconds, creates a poster that reflects those words in an image, which we then publish with the creator’s name. I have to say, the graphic results are very impressive, and we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this in an analog way.

Maybe the future will be more collaborative between humans and machines than the movies have led us to believe. Hopefully. PS: This was written by a happy, though slightly insecure, human who is trying to learn and improve day by day.