Introduction of any new technology should never be about just novelty. It must be about identifying the use of it to solve people’s existing problems in new ways.
The fact is, none of the existing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies can master even the simplest challenges without human-provided context. What is progressively called A.I. is more artificial than intelligent. Everyone talks about it, and yet no one agrees on what it means.
This leads to the question: What is A. I.?
A.I. is invading the communication world as brands find practical uses for computational intelligence and cognitive machines that learn as they go. It is an area of computer science that emphasises the creation of intelligent machines that work and react like humans.
It ultimately doesn’t matter what these technologies are called; what matters is whether they can improve lives and perform the task presented. A.I. technologies have the potential to dramatically alter a set industry and eliminate many of the mundane tasks, thus allowing brands to extract knowledge from data to focus on the creative storytelling that connects them with their audiences.
By automating some of the smaller tasks, professionals can spend more time considering the human element of patterns and behaviour, and adjusting their messages accordingly.
There is a lot of conversation happening around A.I., machine learning, and using algorithms to shape the future of design and the role of the designer. But how is that changing the way we work in the near future?
The clear majority of the jobs that will be taken over by robots are blue-collar ... at least in the next decade or so. When you look at design, things are a bit more complex than that. Humans have this unique ability to set context for our designs and create empathy for other users.
It’s more likely that designers and robots will start working side by side in the future. Designers will eventually be more like mentors for computers using their experience to train the machines that do the actual work.
It’s going to fundamentally change a designer’s role in the creative process. While creatives needn’t panic about an A.I. invasion just yet, it’s time to make the most of this technology. With branding automation, A.I. can provide more time for the fun stuff.
And what one must look forward to is embracing the machine and technology. Having said that, A.I. is said to give us freedom to tackle and to create more interesting work. It’s one thing to use A.I. to organise branded content or chat with customers — both very time-consuming jobs — but it’s also poised to automate design.
We are on the path to integrating it more deeply into our daily lives. The technologies we choose to develop, adopt and build upon follows the rules of cultural evolution and dictated by an environment that provides the feedback mechanism — the free market.
A.I. is next in line for large-scale adoption. This has interesting consequences for product management, design and development.
In the far future, A.I. will be truly intelligent and be able to operate without context. But for now, regardless of what we are led to think, existing technologies are not nearly advanced enough to master simple tasks on their own and need human intervention.
A.I. will challenge designers and creative professionals to be more human and find emotive expression in their creativity and problem-solving strategy. The tech industry will only be able to set realistic expectations about A.I.’s promises if it uses the term judiciously and is realistic with consumers about what artificial intelligence can truly deliver.
— The writer is Managing Director and Creative Principle at JPd.
