As the Owner and Principal of Coelement, I’ve been thrilled to witness the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the marketing, storytelling, and video production industries. The possibilities seem endless, and the potential for enhancing our creative capabilities is undeniable. However, in the midst of this excitement, I believe it’s going to be crucial to approach AI adoption for our business carefully and thoughtfully in an effort to uphold the integrity of our brand and to protect our collective industry from potential harms
Let me explain:
The Hype Surrounding AI in Business – Proceed with Caution
In recent times, I’ve witnessed many companies, large and small, jumping on the AI bandwagon, leveraging it as a selling point to position themselves as innovative and forward-thinking. They market themselves as the ones who can provide services faster and cheaper than their competitors by harnessing the power of AI. While there is no denying that AI can streamline processes and improve efficiency, blindly adopting the “Stronger, Faster, Cheaper with Ai” selling tactic can have unintended consequences and potentially devalue your brand and your business.
Avoiding Brand Devaluation
One of the dangers of adopting the “Stronger, Faster, Cheaper with Ai” selling tactic is that it can devalue your brand to your current customers, while at the same time, attract the wrong types of new customers to your doorstep. “Price Buyers” as Blair Enns from Win Without Pitching calls them, are looking for “cheap and fast” and care less about high-quality, strategic thinking and beautiful, emotionally-driven creative. Now…if that’s the kind of creative firm you want to grow – that’s great! You know what you’re customers want, and that’s a good thing! For Coelement – my theory has always been that by focusing solely on the cost and speed benefits, we risk attracting clients who prioritize quantity over quality and fail to appreciate the art of storytelling and the time and effort it takes to develop exceptional creative solutions. Such partnerships can undermine our creative integrity and compromise the value we bring to purpose-driven organizations.
AI Regulation – A Moral Responsibility
While the advancements in AI are undeniably exciting, moving forward I believe it’s going to be essential to address the potential challenges it poses to our creative industry. As a collective industry, I believe we have a moral responsibility to ensure that AI is regulated in a way that preserves the integrity and livelihoods of professionals in our field.
Currently, the film industry is experiencing a writer strike, highlighting the importance of protecting the jobs of those who contribute their creative talents to the storytelling process.
As AI continues to evolve, there is a concern that it could be used in a way that replaces or devalues the work of writers, directors, and other industry professionals.
AI will undoubtedly come to a point where lawmakers will need to consider regulation for the safety of society and our planet. I believe the same line of thinking should be taken for our respective industries. As advocates for creativity and storytelling, we must rally together as one voice to protect the jobs and contributions of our industry’s professionals. While AI can be a powerful tool, it should never be used as a means to undermine the human creativity and expertise that are essential to the art of storytelling. We must actively participate in conversations surrounding AI regulation, ensuring that it is implemented in a way that supports and empowers our industry rather than displacing its skilled workforce.
Leveraging AI to Fuel Creativity – Not Replace It
At Coelement, our approach to AI is driven by a different perspective. We believe in using AI to fuel creativity and enhance our storytelling capabilities where it makes a meaningful difference. Currently, we are in the testing phase of various AI products designed to augment our creative process. One exciting example is the utilization of AI for motion capture.
To illustrate the capabilities of AI in motion capture, the video below is a test we recently performed in the basement of our studio. We purposely did it in the basement with very little light and studio equipment to test the Ai capabilities. I served as the subject, and through the power of AI, the system automatically generated the motion capture information for an animated character. What’s remarkable is that this was achieved without the need for a traditional motion capture suite, hardware or large studio. The video sample showcases a side-by-side comparison, highlighting how AI can bring animated characters to life with astounding accuracy and realism.
In the future it’s going to be tools like these that will allow us to focus more on the art of storytelling and captivating audiences, rather than being held back by clunky technical processes.
By leveraging AI in our storytelling process, we can unlock new avenues of creativity. AI algorithms can assist in generating story concepts, suggesting visual elements, and even aiding in the scriptwriting process. These tools will inevitably enhance our ability to craft compelling narratives and deliver powerful creative and messaging for our clients and their audiences.
It’s About Finding the Right Balance
To navigate the AI revolution successfully in our creative industry, I believe it’s going to be essential to find the right balance. While AI can undoubtedly enhance our capabilities in many areas of our service offerings, it should never replace the human touch and creative vision. At Coelement, our goal will always be to augment human creativity with AI-powered tools, leveraging the best of both worlds to deliver exceptional storytelling experiences that resonate with our clients and their audiences.
I am genuinely excited about the potential that Artificial Intelligence holds for our industry. However, I feel strongly that it’s crucial to approach AI adoption carefully and thoughtfully. Rather than succumbing to the temptation of the “Stronger, Faster, Cheaper” selling tactic, we must focus on leveraging AI to ‘fuel’ our creativity and enhance our storytelling capabilities.
Through our testing phase, we are exploring various AI products, including motion capture, to push the boundaries of what’s possible in storytelling. These advancements will ultimately empower us to create even more immersive and captivating experiences for our clients in the future.
By finding the right balance between human ingenuity and technological advancements, we can continue to create impactful videos that resonate with purpose-driven organizations and attract the right types of customers to our doorstep. Let us embrace AI as a powerful tool that complements our storytelling craft, elevating it to new heights and making a meaningful difference in the world of marketing and video production.