Artificial Opposition

Thoughts on the longevity of creative thinking in an artificial age.

( 3 ) ARTIFICIAL OPPOSITION

A few evenings ago I went to a friend’s engagement party and as someone who often feels unnatural at social gatherings, I scanned the room for a similar essence I could gravitate toward. As I was grazing the long charcuterie board in the center of kitchen island, I noticed a woman taking sips of her drink in the corner and she seemed intriguing, so I gained some confidence to go start a conversation.

It started off casual and light asking about how she knew the couple, but turns out she was just a friend of a friend and didn’t know them very well at all. Then, after about ten minutes, we started to get more comfortable recognizing we had quite a bit in common and began asking some deeper questions. I don’t think either of us were much for small talk anyway. She told me she was 25 and asked my age hesitantly, in which I replied that I just turned 30 and recoiled a bit when I heard myself say that out loud. She laughed and said that’s still so young but preceded to ask me what it was like to look back on my twenties now that I made it through on the other side. Honestly, I told her, it was pretty brutal but the biggest takeaway I have is how my twenties encompassed a complete unlearning of everything I thought I knew. It was a full reversal, a surrendering of self over and over again until I finally felt confident in my own transformation. Now at 30, I can truthfully say that I feel like a completely different person, with newfound beliefs, values, and views. I’ve processed through familial / religious trauma, healed parts of myself that were hidden, set boundaries with people who hurt me, and shed facades. I told her I know I’ll look back when I’m 40 and probably think I was still so naive at 30 but at least in this moment, I actually feel more confident in who I’ve become than I ever was before. She let out a big sigh of relief saying, “Wow, I can’t wait to be 30”.

She then asked a more general question to continue the conversation, “As a creative person in a creative career, do you think AI is going to eventually destroy creative ideas and human creativity in general?” It was thought-provoking but also something I think many of us are grappling with right now when thinking about career longevity in creative fields. My first obvious thought was to respond with yes, because so many people are now reverting straight to ChatGPT to answer questions and give them new ideas without critically thinking through them for themselves but instead I answered with something else that I’ve been pondering on for a while but never articulated out loud. I explained how I think the greatest opposition for AI is human intuition. A computer may have facts and answers to practical questions but it will never be able to sense something beyond the information given to it and receive an intuitive message. I think the most rewarding part about my creative career as an art director and designer is when I begin to channel ideas in the flow state and follow a subconscious prompting. The moment when I present a direction or set of designs to a client and they feel deeply seen and understood, I feel as though I can’t take the credit because the visual pictures were given to me from somewhere beyond my control.

I recently was working on a client project for a photographer and followed a research rabbit trail about charm bracelets and the stories they tell through each small piece having a significant meaning. It seemed so off-topic, I almost deemed it as a complete distraction but something told me to keep following the path, so I stumbled upon some vintage lockets and admired the way they have a small memory or photo inside of each of them and how special the gesture of holding something or someone so close to your heart is. Then finally, it led me to a rocking horse, which made me think of the juxtaposition of freedom and grounding. Altogether the separate ideas of charms, pendants, and a rocking horse somehow came together through different illustrations and design variations to form a cohesive brand identity for my client that felt very true to her, so I presented it with excitement (and of course a bit of fear for how it would be perceived). She quickly responded with how she actually makes her own jewelry, specifically with charms and she has two horses, so the rocking horse encapsulated so much memory for her. She asked if I already knew any of that about her but truthfully, it was more like a sixth sense that I couldn’t describe. A profound revelation like this happens in almost every client project in some way, shape, or form and overtime I’ve learned to trust wherever intuition leads, not for myself but for reasons beyond me. ChatGPT will never know such specific meaningful things about people, unless the information has been directly given to it.

Human intuition is the most important part of the creative process and it can never be formulated into AI. Practice using it everyday through accessing flow state and you’ll never need to worry about becoming obsolete as a creator. We may not have all the answers but we do have access to an inner-knowing that transcends consciousness.

With endless curiosity,

Darcy

A series of prompts:

What is a conversation you had recently that validated a long-form thought?

When was the last time you followed your intuition during the creative process? How was the project perceived by others afterwards?