Have we Already Allowed ‘AI’ to Become a Dirty Word?

Does AI have a PR problem? It would seem so. At the start of this month, the UK, US, EU, and China showed a rare display of solidarity in jointly declaring the technology “a potentially catastrophic risk to humanity” at a summit in Britain. The announcement has become known as ‘The Bletchley Declaration’. 

It was hardly a ringing endorsement for a tech breakthrough which promises to herald a transformative impact on our industry. We’ve heard plenty of hyperbole about creative tech before - but nobody feared that Photoshop was going to enslave humanity, or that 3rd party cookies might learn to deploy nuclear weapons. 

So what kind of impact is this external noise having on attitudes towards AI in the creative world? How relevant are announcements like The Bletchley Declaration to this industry? And, ultimately, is there any danger that well-intentioned creatives could somehow contribute to those ‘potentially catastrophic’ consequences of AI? 

To find out, we caught up with a man whose familiarity with AI in a creative context runs deeper than most. As the ECD and co-founder of Wildlife, Scott Friedman’s interactions with AI stretch back years - and he’s had a front-row seat as both awareness and attitudes towards the technology have evolved over time. 

That experience has given Scott a healthy perspective when it comes to external interventions like The Bletchley Declaration. “These are important, necessary conversations given the future impact of AI on every aspect of human life but like with any tool or new technology, there’s going to be both positive and negative applications”, he suggests. “The industry’s reaction shouldn’t be to avoid AI, but instead to consider how to use it as an additive element to enable or enhance an idea, and to consider how it might be integrated into our work in the future”. 

With that being said, he also acknowledges that the litany of unanswered questions regarding AI are contributing to a widespread sense of trepidation. “It’s a reality that we have to consider how the public might perceive any usage of AI in a campaign for now, at least until it becomes a bit more normalised”, he adds. “At that point, the level of fear and uncertainty will naturally settle as the future impact of AI on our lives becomes more clear”. 

In Scott’s view, then, AI’s increasing relevance as part of our lives is an inevitability which is coming ever-closer. And, given how much has already changed since the topic first picked up speed in the industry’s discourse over the past couple of years, it’s difficult to predict just where our attitudes will be when AI becomes a ubiquitous part of the landscape. 

“At the start of this recent rush to leverage AI, we saw a lot of excitement and curiosity as opposed to fear. The technology was still quite raw, and before the public explosion of more powerful tools like ChatGPT, MidJourney, or Krea, the level of quality output seemed very far off even where we are today”, he notes. “But within this past year we’ve seen a huge increase in client requests to integrate AI in some form, and the thirst for AI-enabled projects has been the dominant trend this year without question”. 

But just as interested in AI-powered projects has gathered pace, so too have questions and uncertainties.  “What we’re now seeing is more caution taking hold as the social, legal and ethical ground rules continue to evolve at a rapid pace”, he tells LBB. “There are still many unknowns and a constant tension to push the boundaries of what’s possible without stepping into grey areas and losing control of potential outputs that could get a brand into trouble”. 

In fact, Scott reports that the most common questions he encounters when discussing AI projects aren’t technical, but rather legal. “Working through the potential legalities is more complicated than a traditional talent agreement or a broadcast scope of work”, he acknowledges. “While it’s often the case with many of our projects, our AI-powered work usually has even less precedent; so step one is making sure all parties are clear about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it to help adapt the legal concerns to each use-case”. 

Fortunately, Scott and the Wildlife team have the experience of making these projects happen. An example is their work with Lenovo last year, in which AI was leveraged to help the iconic Queen Latifah become the face of any participating small business. 

“That project generated a ton of interest from other clients curious about the technology and how they might be able to use it”, explains Scott. “Since then we’ve been able to work heavily with large language models for conversational experiences, AI generated voices, impressively dynamic digital avatars, intelligent document processing, and analysing massive amounts of data that humans could never process”. 

The potential use cases, then, are both clear and plentiful. And for brands looking to distinguish themselves and cut through a saturated media environment, AI is an especially attractive tool. “We’re in a period where everyone is looking at how they can utilise AI to deliver a never-been-done experience or help them bring an idea to life that was previously impossible and those limitations are changing all the time”, adds Scott. 

So the industry is currently undergoing a collective process of experimentation. And it’s one which, according to Wildlife’s co-founder and ECD, requires participation from as many voices as possible. “AI is not going away - many organisations understand this but they truly have to be ready to integrate AI into their workflow”, he says. “It's a different way of thinking and it’s an adjustment, but an essential one. The rules have not yet been written, the laws and restrictions will take a long time to be solidified (and outdated once again by the time they are). but what we can do is build on established principals, be smart about risks and act responsibly. We’re all figuring it out together in real-time”. 

Ultimately, it’s precisely that process of ‘figuring it out’ which is going to help actors from across the industry better apply AI to their work. That the technology is about to become embedded in our culture and economy is certain - but the extent of the benefits it gives us are still to be decided. 

“The best way to overcome the fear is to get hands-on and understand the technology by just playing with it”, concludes Scott. “There are so many free-to-use tools out there. So just jump in, start experimenting, see what they can do, and what they can’t do. Stay involved, and get educated”.