What is Generative AI and Why Creators Should Care
I'm sure you've been hearing a lot about ChatGPT and how developers and other creative professionals will soon be out of a job. Hold on, you don't need to brush up your resume yet (although, it doesn't hurt to always keep it updated!)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here and in 2023 it will affect every industry and job as we know it. But it's not all doom and gloom. Specifically for us, creators and creative professionals, we should be focusing our energies on understanding what Generative AI is and how we can use it to improve what we create.
In short, Generative AI is AI that creates. For example, below is an image created by DALL-E, from OpenAI, using the text prompt: "generative ai in the style of corporate".
Another example of generative AI is ChatGPT, which is a generative AI powered chatbot you can have conversations with and ask it to create content (or even code) for you. You speak to it via prompts. Let me give you an example of my most recent conversation with it:
My Text Prompt:
Create a short article explaining to business executives what generative ai is and why it's important for them to know about it. |
ChatGPT's Response:
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that is designed to generate new content, rather than simply processing and analyzing pre-existing data. This can include generating text, images, music, or other types of media. One of the key benefits of generative AI is its ability to create new and unique content, which can be especially useful for businesses that rely on creative output, such as advertising agencies or media companies. For example, a generative AI system could be used to generate a series of potential ad campaigns, allowing a business to quickly and easily explore a range of creative ideas without requiring a team of human designers. Generative AI can also be useful for businesses that need to process large amounts of data or generate reports on a regular basis. By automating these tasks, generative AI can help businesses save time and resources, allowing them to focus on more important tasks. Overall, generative AI is an important and rapidly developing field that has the potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries. Business executives who are aware of the capabilities and potential applications of generative AI will be well positioned to take advantage of these technologies and stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive marketplace. |
The important thing to understand is that ChatGPT understands context, in other words, it remembers the conversation you and it are having, which means you can reference back things it gave you . For example, I wanted to expand the blog article it provided to me, so I asked it the following:
My Text Prompt:
Can you add another paragraph about how generative AI works, but keep it simple, as if you were explaining it to an elementary school child. |
ChatGPT's Response:
Generative AI works by using a computer program to analyze a large amount of data and look for patterns and trends. Then, it uses what it has learned to create new things that are similar to the data it studied. For example, if a generative AI system studied a bunch of pictures of dogs, it might be able to create a new picture of a dog that looks different from any of the ones it studied, but still looks like a real dog. Generative AI is really smart and can create all sorts of interesting and creative things, like stories, music, and even paintings! |
My Text Prompt:
Can you add another paragraph about how generative AI will affect consumers? |
ChatGPT's Response:
There are many ways that generative AI could potentially impact consumers in the future. For one, it could lead to the creation of new and innovative products and services that were previously not possible. This could include everything from personalized marketing campaigns to entirely new types of entertainment or art. In addition, generative AI could potentially lead to increased efficiency and convenience for consumers. For example, a generative AI system might be able to automatically generate reports or summaries of large amounts of data, allowing consumers to quickly and easily access the information they need. However, it's important to note that generative AI also has the potential to disrupt certain industries and job markets. For example, if a generative AI system is able to create content that is indistinguishable from human-generated content, it could potentially lead to the automation of certain jobs. As a result, it's important for consumers to be aware of the potential implications of generative AI and how it might affect them in the future. |
I decided that I was happy with what it provided me so far, so I gave ChatGPT one last prompt:
My Text Prompt:
Can you now combine all of the above into one cohesive blog article, suggest a title for it and provide me with a summary for the blog description? |
ChatGPT's Response:
Here's a combined and revised version of the article: Title: "Generative AI: What It Is and Why It Matters" Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that is designed to generate new content, rather than simply processing and analyzing pre-existing data. This can include generating text, images, music, or other types of media. One of the key benefits of generative AI is its ability to create new and unique content, which can be especially useful for businesses that rely on creative output, such as advertising agencies or media companies. Generative AI can also be useful for businesses that need to process large amounts of data or generate reports on a regular basis, as it can help automate these tasks and save time and resources. There are many potential impacts of generative AI on consumers. It could lead to the creation of new and innovative products and services, as well as increased efficiency and convenience. However, it's important to note that generative AI also has the potential to disrupt certain industries and job markets, so it's important for consumers to be aware of its potential implications. Generative AI is an important and rapidly developing field that has the potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries. Business executives who are aware of the capabilities and potential applications of generative AI will be well positioned to take advantage of these technologies and stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Blog Description: In this article, we take a closer look at generative AI – what it is, how it works, and why it's important for business executives to understand. We also explore the potential impacts of generative AI on consumers and discuss the potential implications of this rapidly developing technology. |
As you can see, the power of generative AI is something that will affect all of us and change all industries. We, as creators, must understand it, learn how it works, and most important, understand where our "expertise" and "value" is, because we have to accept that fact that we will have to co-exists with AI. Content creation, moving forward, will be a partnership between human and AI.
The new skill set for 2023 is going to be "prompt composition", in other words, creating prompts that guides the AI into delivering exactly what we want. We'll have to think of ourselves more like orchestra directors, guiding the AI into making beautiful music, while it plays the various instruments for us.
Get ready, because 2023 is going to be a wild and crazy year and, personally, I can't wait to see what the future brings!
Happy 2023 and a warm welcome to my new "partner-in-crime", ChatGPT and all future generative AIs. I'm ready to work together with you creating awesome content!