Thinking Differently In The World Of AI

By Dominique Pellissier (Motion Design Lecturer The Vega School at Emeris Cape Town City Campus)

Ah yes AI… the topic that everyone is sick of hearing about but can’t seem to stop talking about. I remember wishing that there was a “I hate this” button as I watched AI garbage permeate my LinkedIn, but my thinking around AI has gradually evolved. To quote a colleague: “It’s about understanding the monster”. Coming to terms with this particular beast comes down to living with duality – we can’t ignore the risks that AI presents, but we must also accept that there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. AI has fundamentally changed how we work and there is no going back.

I come from the film industry, working in Visual Effects (VFX). At the end of last year, I was working as a VFX Producer on a BBC documentary about the Titanic. Hundreds of people gave their time, energy and passion to this project over months. As the deadline approached, it became apparent that producing convincing water simulations within the project's timeframe would not be possible. Computer generated (CG) water simulations are notoriously difficult and time consuming to get right. You can’t exactly have a documentary about the Titanic without water, so our solution was either a bucket of water and some sock puppets or trying AI. If AI hadn’t saved our proverbial ship from sinking, a brilliant documentary would never have seen the light of day. This was also not the AI junk that I mentioned I had previously been bombarded with. Instead, it was crafted, thought out and purposeful work.

Is there a lot of AI slop out there? Unfortunately, a resounding YES. Does AI come with a lot of risks? Regrettably, also YES. Between massive job displacements, the impact on the environment, the invasion of our privacy and misuse of our data, and the strain it places on the ongoing digital divide (among other issues), we certainly have our work cut out for us.

What does all of this mean for the creative industry? I can only truly speak in terms of the animation and film industry, but here’s what I’m seeing…The industry hasn’t just blindly opened its arms to AI. Industry clients are dipping their toes in the AI pool very slowly and treating it like a live grenade. Any project that I’ve worked on where AI was used, lawyers got involved. I never thought I would say this, but that is a good thing. A legal team helps to ensure that AI has been used ethically and that the content is also sourced fairly, without stealing from or infringing on other artists’ work. AND we all get to avoid becoming a case study. Companies, like Netflix, have gone so far as to develop their own AI system that they share with their vendors to ensure that their content and practices are fair and ethical, and they have strict policies in place around this.

Another big factor is that grunt work (a classic example in the film industry is rotoscoping) that used to take us hours, days or even weeks, can now be done in a fraction of the time. That is also a good thing… So many of my colleagues have felt stuck and frustrated from being relegated to these types of tasks and never getting to do anything creative and meaningful. That era is coming to an end. AI takes care of the time consuming and repetitive work that no one wants to do and frees artists up to focus on the creative work.

What does this new world mean for our students who are preparing to enter industry? Well, for one thing, it means they will no longer be able to scrape by doing grunt work – just ticking the box isn’t going to cut it. MORE will be required of them. Creativity now HAS TO be their core foundation going forward. But this also speaks to something larger…

A good friend of mine was a drama student but now works as a Project Manager on high end projects for a software development company. Why is a former drama student successful at a software company of all places? Because she thinks differently. She has unique insights into user experience and can anticipate problems the rest of her colleagues wouldn’t think of.

A decade ago, prominent technologists and business entrepreneurs like Mark Cuban (and several others) warned us that, due to advancements in technology, in 10 years, the most valuable employees would be Philosophers. Why? Because they think differently. We are there. The moment has arrived. If we want our students to succeed, we must guide them to uncover their unique perspectives and ways of thinking. Not only can they not just tick the box – they will have to build the box, break the box, debate the box, disassemble the box and perhaps decide that we don’t need boxes anymore. Problem solving, design thinking, ideation and the ability to innovate – that is what we need to be focusing on in our lecture rooms. So, the real question isn’t how you are going to integrate AI into your lecture room, but how are you going to teach your students to think differently.