[ POV ] The Future of AI in Creativity

Insights gleaned from Chris Duffey and Matthew Duncan.

What happens when the head of thought leadership on the future of work at Microsoft and a tech futurist from Adobe get together? You get incredible insights on the future of AI in creativity. Matthew Duncan, Director of Future of Work at Microsoft, and Chris Duffey, Head of Strategic Development for Emerging Solutions at Adobe, recently shared their vision on how Microsoft Copilot and Adobe Cloud are set to revolutionize creativity for marketers, creatives, agencies, and brands.

It’s clear that many marketers today regularly incorporate AI into their work, and this trend is set to grow. The pervasive influence of AI makes it an exciting time to be a marketer and the acceleration of generative AI is going to be transformational for our industry.

So where is AI in creativity actually going? What is the integration of AI in the creative processes?

AI’s Role in Personalization and Individualization

The discussion began with an exploration of AI’s growing influence in the industry. Duffey noted the shift from personalization to individualization. He explained, “We’re moving from personalization, even segmentation, to individualization. If we agree with that North Star vision, we quickly realize the need for a framework strategy that extracts insights in near real time from CDPs, that then triggers the capability to create content in near real-time, which then triggers the capability to do multimedia mix modeling in near real time and ultimately […] measurement and optimization.” This approach allows for insights to trigger content creation and marketing strategies that are highly tailored to individuals on a massive scale and in near real time.

Enhancing Productivity with Generative AI

Duncan emphasized the practical benefits of generative AI. From a recent Work Trend Index survey he noted that “41% of marketers and creatives say they spend too much time jumping between applications and processes, and are not having enough time to focus on the real work, the creative work.” Generative AI, in the form of a copilot that is your assistant, aims to address this by automating routine tasks, thus reclaiming time for more meaningful work and improving the quality of the work. “I’ll tell you what’s exciting when it comes to personal productivity is how that’s going to be more personalized” said Duncan. “This Copilot will understand your work patterns […].” And it’s going to become more proactive, prompting and reminding you about your tasks.

The Future of AI and Creativity

Looking to the future, Duffey shared a vision for AI over the next three to five years. He outlined five horizons: generative images, generative video, generative 3D, generative audio or music, and generative coding. “And so along that continuum the possibility to have collaboration with a Copilot is really going to accelerate the ability to not only create but also infuse the insights into that creation process,” he added.

Adding to this, Duncan predicts a future where every creative team includes a Copilot that is your personal assistant and an actual part of the team. “There’s not going to be a creative team or a campaign team that doesn’t have a Copilot participating as a member,” he stated. He highlighted how this integration will further enhance productivity with Gen AI technology being an agent, “doing the processes behind work that are in the back office. Moving those things around so that you’re going to get greater efficiency and greater time savings back into the way you are dealing with your creative process or your marketing organization […] We see it creating new business models as you create new value out there in the marketplace.”

The Evolution of AI: From LLMs to Multi-Agent Models

As for the evolution of AI models, Duffey stated that “we may have reached an inflection point in terms of Large Language Models (LLMs).” LLMs are advanced AI systems trained on vast amounts of data to understand and generate human-like language. He predicts a shift to unlock Small Language Models (SLMs), which are more specialized and efficient for specific tasks. He anticipates we then might have the capability to run Large Agent Models acting as intelligent assistants to automate complex workflows, and then Multi-Agent Models that will connect multiple agents across various domains like healthcare and finance. This progression will enable highly specialized AI assistants to collaborate, amplifying learning and productivity.

The forward-looking insights shared by Duffey and Duncan paint a future where AI is deeply integrated into the full creative process, enhancing both individual and team capabilities. This transformation promises to revolutionize the creative industry, making workflows more efficient, unlocking new levels of creativity and new business models.

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