Creativity manifests in all areas of marketing and business. Those who foresaw consumers flocking to forecourt stores during Covid reaped rewards. Smaller pack sizes, brand alliances, direct-to-consumer selling models – all start as untested, even ‘crazy’ ideas before they prove themselves as profitable.
Ideas come from somewhere. They’re usually based on a hunch that’s confirmed by a closer look at data, or research. New ideas are generally derivative – an inching forward from what’s been done already to create something new. But the world also needs different, independent thinkers, the “crazy ones” from Apple’s 1997 ‘Think Different’ campaign.
Let’s consider AI’s role in songwriting as an example of a creative endeavour.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Possibly the most off-trend masterpiece to ever hit the charts, I asked Google’s Gemini if AI could have helped Freddie Mercury compose Bohemian Rhapsody. To its credit, it admitted that it would not have for the following reasons:
- Creativity vs Analysis: AI models are great at analysing existing music and generating variations based on that data. However, true creativity, like the kind that birthed Bohemian Rhapsody, is a complex human quality AI hasn’t yet mastered.
- Uniqueness vs Familiarity: AI could suggest chord progressions, melodies, or even lyrics based on Queen’s style. But Bohemian Rhapsody’s genius lies in its unexpected twists and operatic elements. AI might lean towards familiar patterns.
- Collaboration vs Solo Effort: AI could be a tool for exploration, but songwriting is often collaborative. The interplay between Mercury, May, Taylor, and Deacon was crucial for shaping Bohemian Rhapsody.
Gemini couldn’t resist throwing in some ways it could have assisted Mercury with tweaking his big idea. Gemini concludes that AI wouldn’t have replaced Freddie’s creative spark, but it could have been a valuable tool in his songwriting arsenal. Understanding what AI isn’t, is as important as knowing what it is. It isn’t going to effortlessly land the Big Idea.
Struggle
Singer, songwriter and artist, Nick Cave started a simple project in 2018 called The Red Hand Files. It’s a place where he answers any questions from fans. Cave says he reads and answers the questions which come in their hundreds every week. He says they’re extraordinarily diverse, from the playful to the profound, the deeply personal to the flat-out nutty. Cave wrote a passionate letter in response to a question from Leon and Charlie about AI’s role in songwriting.
Eloquently reading Cave’s letter to a packed Royal Albert Hall, Stephen Fry laments the ‘commodification of the human spirit by mechanising the imagination’. There’s no shortcut in the creative process. Struggle, discomfort, doubt and anxiety are the crucible on which something completely new is forged.
In conclusion, because of its ability to learn, the AI revolution is providing ‘clever’ solutions to increasingly complex problems. But, as Gemini admits, it tends towards analytical, familiar and solo solutions. Until artificial intellect comes onstream, creative marketing, engineering and sociology, like songwriting, is still going to require creativity, uniqueness and collaboration, along with some struggle for those ‘crazy’ ideas to form.
