A.I: A Glimpse Into What 2023 Might Bring
Moving onward ?
2022 seems to be a variation on a theme, with each passing year more surreal than the last! But the human spirit is indomitable as it is resilient, Despite economic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, and future unknowns, we march onward towards progress.
Australians have stood with their feet firmly planted in the ground, with over 160,000 company entries in the domestic marketplace. Unafraid of what the hazy future has in store for them, they trudge onwards, forging novel brands and innovating in outdated spaces.
Vesanique would like to raise our hats ? to the darers and dreamers who remain fearless and dauntless amidst the persistent troubles plaguing our world.
New ways to do old things ?
Alas, I ramble! The growing number of emergent, up-start brands in the marketplace tells branding and marketing professionals an important tale: Branding is here to stay for the long haul.
Branding is a permanent and immutable fixture in business life. Branding is what makes your existence known to your customers. It is what allows you to emotionally connect with your target demographic. It highlights the merits of your organisation and its product/services to your intended audience.
While the nature of branding stays the same, what truly matters is the form that it takes! It’s not about the “whats”, but rather, the “hows”! As web-based technologies rapidly innovate, ingenious ways to sell your brand soon arise. Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
As a Brisbane web design agency, we’re keeping close tabs on the latest A.I. trends and fads that add value to outstanding branding undertakings. In this feature, we’d like to explore three newly-emerging trends and developments that are likely to grow in scope in 2023.
1. ChatGPT: Yay or nay?
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (A.I.) chatbot that responds to the written prompts of users. Don’t be fooled by this straightforward description! This is no Google Search Engine.
Unveiled on 30 November, ChatGPT can perform tasks, from the banal to the technical with exacting precision in a matter of seconds. The titular bot’s ability to aggregate internet-based data into a format reminiscent of human speech is what makes this digital tool revolutionary!
Need the Javascript code for an analog clock? ChatGPT has got you covered. Need to generate a creative story about a colleague and his wild night out? ChatGPT spells it out for you, the story unfurling before your enchanted eyes! All you need is an internet connection to access this potent instrument. As you can expect, the bot’s incredible flexibility has led to some outlandishly funny responses.
Undoubtedly, ChatGPT A.I. bears the imbued power to disrupt the entire branding agency space. For the risk-averse, artificial intelligence spells doom for creatives, unable to rival the intellectual scope of the A.I. chatbot.
However, like all incumbent A.I. technologies, ChatGPT is a work-in-progress operating within limited parameters. Instead of perceiving it as a viable replacement for a full-service branding agency, we see it as a complementary seismic shift. Treating ChatGPT as a virtual assistant, time-consuming and tedious tasks can be fed to ChatGPT in the vested interest of saving time and optimising project outcomes.
Need to generate original social media content or a specific line of code? ChatGPT can take the guesswork out of those tasks. All you have to do is feed it the correct prompts. Given its infancy, only time will tell if ChatGPT is seen as a friend or foe in the branding space (we’d wager it would be the former).
We’ll discuss this in greater detail as 2023 passes through (onto the second trend!)
2. AI-Generated Art: Plagiarism or not?
Another A.I. segment? This goes to show that A.I. is starting to be as ubiquitous as white bread! On a serious note, A.I. can also attract its fair share of problems.
Today, there exist multiple proprietary A.I. programs specialising in the development of graphic imagery. Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion are the three most popular programs.
In essence, these programs follow a similar structure to ChatGPT. You simply input a prompt in your chosen language. The software first comprehends your description, followed by an automatically-generated image influenced by it. Consolidating the millions of images floating freely on the internet, the final image is a mish-mash of influences!
Naturally, as a graphic design-focused agency, a spontaneous image generator could prove to be an immeasurable tool in our arsenal. However, not every image falls under the ambit of “creative commons licensing” or “royalty free”. That’s where the problem starts.
In September this year, Jason M. Allen won first prize at the Colorado State Fair’s annual art competition, a contest between young and emerging digital artists and creatives. But here’s the catch; the winning piece, Théâtre D’opéra Spatial, was exclusively created using Midjourney.
When the entire Twitter space caught wind of this incident, the backlash was, needless to say, deafening. Netizens were swift to call Mr Allen out, some arguing his “work” should only be attributable to the application, not to his namesake. One other noteworthy critique was that A.I. generated art when used for commercial intent, amounts to plagiarism. Since the bot-in-discussion derives its “artistic license” from pictures fed to its ever-expanding knowledge base without permission, is that not considered “art theft”?
Supanova Comic Con and Gaming appears to think so. A few days ago, they explicitly banned the sale of A.I.-generated artwork at future events, citing their “utmost respect for visual artists”.
While this isn’t the latest news, this trend is likely to spill over into the looming year. The lingering temptation of brand agencies to leverage this groundbreaking albeit polarising technology is warranted. However, the points of contention surrounding the usage of such tools should be deterrent enough!
Until the ethics surrounding the use of such tools on a commercial scale are properly debated and agreed upon by pundits and experts alike, we should refrain from touching this infant technology until more is said and done!
Embrace or resist? ?
A.I. is a groundswell of both creative destruction and reinvention. Both fads pose interesting contradictions to one another. The former embraces the mainstream conspicuity of A.I. technologies. The latter adopts a cynical outlook on youthful A.I. technologies, where the end of human ingenuity is nigh!
Regardless of which side of the fence you find yourself on, you have to admit that we live in exciting times. Accordingly, innovations attract varied interpretations, some for it and some against it. From the perspective of a Brisbane web design agency, we choose to selectively embrace the benefits that A.I. leaves on our doorstep.
At the end of the day, we promise our clients the timely delivery of each project without sacrificing quality and care. If we can utilise A.I. to do so in a fully-compliant and ethical manner, we would not hesitate to do so!
But one thing’s for certain; branding remains “branding” at its core. As the year comes to a close, a new opportunity for a meaningful rebrand arises. If your brand requires a “fresh coat of paint” or anything else for that matter, our team has got your back!
Why hire a fully-fledged in-house digital marketing team? Our holistic suite of digital and traditional branding and marketing services covers every possible need under the sun at a fraction of the cost! We’d love to transform your brand ambitions and tap into your brand’s hidden potential come the new year.
Let’s schedule a conversation about how we can help your brand soar to stratospheric heights after Christmas. But where are my manners? On behalf of the entire web design team, we’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ?!
Let’s talk, don’t be a stranger ?️.