Why We Shouldn't Be Afraid of Artificial Intelligence

Last weekend, at the Kinsale Shark festival in Ireland, Andy Sandoz, CCO at Deloitte Digital and former president of D&AD, gave a talk about artificial intelligence. 

Called 'Enjoy Yourself It's Later Than You Think', Sandoz explored AI and how, in the blank robotic face of digital disruption, creativity is all we humans have left. He also told the audience how advertising and marketing needs to be entertaining and artful again.

Below, Sandoz talks to shots.net about the topic.

Do you think artificial intelligence can ever truly replicate the creative mind of a human?

I don’t know. Two things would have to happen, but given enough time I can imagine it being possible.

First the system and chemical input/output of our brain has to be fully understood, mapped and replicated. Believe it or not, that’s probably the easy bit.

Then the abstract nature of what is ‘mind’ needs to be added like fuel to an engine. Or data to a machine. But here we’re dealing with 50,000 years of behavioural modernity and all kinds of identity, culture and weird stuff. That sounds hard.

It could take another 50,000 years to happen, or just 50 with computers involved. Who knows? I’m no expert. Just an interested party with a passion for technology and a human brain.

"It’s very early days, [AI will] get better at understanding us, and vice-versa, and ultimately I think it will normalise and enhance us."

Why do you think a lot of people are so sceptical of AI?

Because it’s a really strange idea. A computer that can outthink a human. And one that challenges the fundamentals of who we are. It’s big, and scary. Made even more so by our need to create horror films and the sophisticated fight-or-flight response that’s served us rather well to date. I can understand why someone might just not want to think about it.

But we need to change the narrative. From ‘what will it do to us?’ to ‘what can we do with it?’. My view is that, whilst the journey forward may not be smooth (is change ever smooth?) increasingly smart technology can have a huge positive impact. And, for the moment at least, we can tell it what to do.

"Tech today is a young, attractive and a little needy. Like a celebrity."

What area of the industry do you think AI will initially have (or is already having) most impact on?

The obvious answer is in the heavy-lifting and repetition. As technology has done for years in factories, it is now doing in the office.

But I think the biggest impact will be in the capacity for critical thinking and creative thought that it enables by releasing humans from these more repetitive tasks. I don’t think it will replace us, I think it will release us. Allow us all to focus on what humans are good at. Having and executing ideas.

Imagine what could happen if we all do that.

"Through emergent technology there is an opportunity to change business for the better, and in doing so change the world too."

With the continuing advancement of technology in all our lives, do you think so called 'digital detox’ is something to be embraced?

Tech today is a young, attractive and a little needy. Like a celebrity. It’s new and exciting and we’re all over it. It can be exhausting. So I can see why a break now and then for a breath of air is a good thing.

But, going forward, there’s a user experience challenge to solve. Tech is taking us out of our world and into a virtual space that is much smaller, with less beauty and it's meticulously designed to give us instant gratification. This interface method will ultimately change - perhaps through virtual reality - to be more integrated into the world around us. And in doing so [it will] become more polite, understanding and in tune with what it really means to be human. Whatever that is!

To suggest detox aligns with a stimulant or drug. Something that overclocks our body in a way that isn’t healthy. I think we will move past this into something healthier and therefore reduce the need to escape. It’s very early days, it’ll get better at understanding us, and vice-versa, and ultimately I think it will normalise and enhance us.

Should people in the creative industries be embracing AI, worrying about it replacing them, or both?

Worrying won’t help. Don’t do that.

Embracing it or what it offers is much more positive. I can see two significant, positive pathways for creatives that technology and AI can bring.

Firstly as it takes on the more repetitive side of what we do it will allow us to be more creative. Wouldn’t you like to be more creative? I don’t know where this leads. But it does feel like an opportunity and one that doesn’t require a creative mind to be more aligned with technology – actually you just need to be more human.

Secondly it offers us a chance to reimagine how everything works. We can look at all the models and systems that make our world work and think how we make them better. It’s an opportunity to take business as usual and make it fitter, faster, smarter and, importantly, more culturally impactful and positive. As a creative I think that’s a really exciting and worthwhile pursuit.

Through emergent technology there is an opportunity to change business for the better, and in doing so change the world too.