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Is generative AI a boon or anathema to human creativity?
That seems to be on the minds of many business leaders as the technology seeps into writing and visual tools that offices tap every day.
Ad Age reported earlier this year that brands are increasingly restricting how their ad agencies use AI, and Dove made headlines for vowing not to use AI to represent women in marketing communications. A study earlier this month found that AI could boost individual writing creativity, but led to less originality overall.
But companies are largely still finding AI plenty useful to juice creativity. At least according to a new report from Canva and Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, which surveyed 500+ business leaders, 42% of whom said “GenAI can enhance creativity at their organization to a great extent.”
Some of this power comes not from the creativity of the AI itself but its time-saving potential. More than six in 10 respondents said automating repetitive tasks with AI lets employees focus on “more creative endeavors.”
Three in five said the tech accelerates idea generation, while 49% said AI was fully “creating content with minimal human intervention.”
The survey divided the respondents’ organizations into three categories based on their “success at identifying creative solutions to business problems:” leaders, followers, and laggards. Leaders made up 22% of respondents, while followers accounted for 56%, and 22% were laggards. Of the leaders, 47% had tapped GenAI tools, compared to 30% of followers and 14% of laggards.
A previous Canva study found that four in five business leaders had used AI tools to create visual content at some point in the past year. Companies like Adobe, Figma, and Canva itself have invested in generative AI tools for everything from minor photo edits to producing imagery.
One respondent to the latest survey, Lee Rolston, the chief growth officer with Jones Knowles Ritchie, said generative AI is helpful for weaving a brand’s unique identity and tone into its output. But Silverside AI Managing Director Robert Wrubel told Ad Age that brands are worried generative AI might accidentally mirror another company’s marketing.
Kevin Bender, global director of digital and design in corporate communications at Colgate-Palmolive, told the Canva and HBR surveyors that the key was using AI responsibly.
“With ethical and responsible use, generative AI can be a creative copilot, supporting a designer or communicator,” Bender said.