Knowing the limits
AI doesn't make magic.
It's brilliant at process. It doesn't make the leap. That part is still ours.
Good strategy needs a creative leap: a move in a direction nobody has taken, into territory that's a bit risky. Logic alone gets you work that's right and bland, and it gives a creative team nothing to jump off.
AI is a great sidekick for research, process and admin. But after all the interviews and all the knowledge, it can't make the jump that stirs human emotion. I never hand over full control, because I know its limits.
Where AI stops
AI extends the line. A person makes the leap.
Everything AI produces is built from what already exists. Left alone, the line runs on flat.
The limits I work around
Eight things I watch for.
None of them stop me using AI. All of them are why a person stays in the loop.
The real danger
The risk isn't bad work. It's getting comfortable with average.
The tools should make us more critical of our own work, not more content with it. That goes for clients as much as strategists. Even as AI learns, someone has to ask whether the work stands out or just looks like everything else.
The test I put work through
- 01Is it inspiring?
- 02Is it entertaining?
- 03Does it move me, or just inform me?
Put yourself in the audience's shoes. Information alone isn't impact.
AI can get you to good.