Can AI be used to generate original work rather than mere “slop”? That’s the question facing many designers who both hope to leverage AI’s power to generate and refine new ideas quickly, and worry about their ability to compete with a flood of AI-generated, yet subpar, content.
TL;DR
- AI can generate ideas quickly but risks subpar content, posing a challenge for designers.
- Human ingenuity augmented by AI may be the future for designers, leveraging AI's pattern recognition.
- Creativity and empathy are essential human traits that AI cannot replicate, according to Mike Peng.
- Designers must experiment and embrace playfulness to avoid mediocrity and unlock AI's full potential.
Mike Peng, the chief executive of IDEO, a firm specializing in design consulting, believes that human ingenuity, augmented by artificial intelligence, might represent the future direction for individuals in the design field.
AI’s pattern recognition capability can make it an incredibly powerful tool, noted Peng at Coins2Day Brainstorm Design in Macau on Dec. 2. But its reliance on averages can lead to “somewhat mediocre” results, he warned.
“Creativity is all about not being mediocre and being on the edge,” he added.
In a similar vein, artificial intelligence excels at repetition, yet it's human ingenuity that dictates the application of those repeated concepts, according to Peng. “This comes from taste, curation, discernment—you need to know where to look,”
And while AI might outperform humans in terms of execution, or how to get from “point A to point B,” bringing it to life requires creativity and empathy, which Peng said “can only be done by folks like us.”
So how best to inculcate a creative mindset and unlock the power of AI? “The only way we can get better at it—and the only way we as creative people, as designers, can become superpowered—is to be able to experiment” Peng said.
IDEO, a globally recognized design and innovation firm established in Palo Alto in 1991, is characterized by its spirit of playfulness, inquisitiveness, and exploration, coupled with a focus on human-centered principles. Peng assumed the role of IDEO's CEO earlier this year, following a five-year tenure as the head of Moon Creative Lab, an enterprise studio connected to Japan's Mitsui.
“There is no play without friction,” Peng noted. “Play is about overcoming something, achieving something.” That’s counter to companies often trying to make their products and services faster and easier to use. To avoid mediocrity, “we have to play, we have to experiment, we have to be on the edge” with new technology, he said.
He points out that IDEO, is “in the business of creating something that AI cannot exactly do on its own.” Nevertheless, he believes that the ultimate human strength lies in grasping the intricacies of people and their relationships.
After all, Peng urged, creatives and designers will “be the ones to bring this experience to life.”
