THE AI-DRIVEN CREATIVE RENAISSANCE
Shifting Vibes and Amplifying Greatness
The AI Revolution and Interconnectionality
AI isn't just knocking on our door—it's moving in, rearranging our furniture, and redecorating our living room. This week's THE VIBE SHIFT explores AI's potential to transform our world from a creative perspective.
I had a queue of juicy topics lined up for THE VIBE SHIFT this week, but AI pulled a fast one and catapulted itself to the top spot. Why? Interconnectionality!
Remember when we unpacked that 20-letter behemoth? Interconnectionality is that web that links seemingly unrelated dots in our lives. It's the cosmic conspiracy that makes you say, "Huh, what are the odds?"
AI is Interconnectionality's poster child right now.
AI has become omnipresent in my personal and professional life, seamlessly integrating into everyday activities. In the last week alone, it's been the subject of countless conversations, has dominated my podcast feeds, and helped me bring a vision in my head to life as an illustration.
During lunch with a friend, we debated the pros and cons of ChatGPT and Claude as if they were contestants on a dating show, a conversation that subsequently led me down a rabbit hole where I even queried both AI assistants about each other.
SIDE NOTE: DM me if you're interested in the hilarious results!
I've become an impromptu AI instructor, teaching friends how to navigate Gen AI and LLMs—which is humorous because I still consider myself a complete novice—I even engaged in a LinkedIn challenge, sharing with my network the fun and practical uses of a well-trained AI assistant in business.
AI has been invaluable in overcoming writer's block on daunting legal documents and has become an integral part of the brainstorming and editing process for my various writing projects. My involvement in an inspiring AI-focused roundtable last Monday and dinner with my dear friend and AI visionary Andrew Smith Lewis the following night further highlighted its significance.
Upon reflection, I realize that the vast majority of my daily activities involve some form of AI, and I bet most, if not all, of you feel the same!
It is sparking immense personal growth, helping me connect disparate dots, making me use dormant critical thinking skills, introducing me to truly fascinating people, and pushing me into experiences I never saw coming. I'm training it, and it's training me!
If that's not interconnectionality at work, I don't know what is!
Before diving deeper, let’s talk business for a hot second; let’s vibe on how AI is rewriting the rules of the game faster than we can blink.
OpenAI, the people behind ChatGPT and DALL-E—a company most of us hadn't even heard of just one year ago—is on track to hit ~$3.5 billion in ARR this year. Their valuation? A cool $86 billion, with experts betting it'll skyrocket even higher in the coming months.
Meanwhile, NVIDIA, the unsung hero of the AI revolution—supplying the power behind AI advancements—has seen its valuation explode from $1.2 trillion in January 2024 to over $3 trillion in just a matter of months*. This means they are sparring daily with the likes of Apple and Microsoft for the top spot as the world’s most valuable company.
It’s clear that AI is reshaping our environment at lightning speed!
It's reshaping our economy, our daily habits, our vocabulary.
It’s reshaping our careers, our workforce, and what we study (as well as how we study it.)
Let’s face it: AI is reshaping our brains!
It’s turning us upside down and inside out—Diana Ross style.
AI isn’t just a productivity tool—it’s the ultimate disruptor, reshaping everything.
Talk about a VIBE SHIFT!
This interconnectionality with our lives and the zeitgeist creates an entirely new (five-dimensional) playing field. The ‘games’ we play on that field are yet to be discovered.
While I absolutely love breakthrough and life-changing productivity hacks, my personal passion in this space is figuring out how to use AI to tap into and awaken the human brain.
I want to explore how we go beyond productivity hacks and evolve into the kind of co-creation that unlocks creativity, amplifies human greatness, and sparks a Modern-Day Creative Renaissance.
So, let’s VIBE on that…
Foresight Explorer’s Vision: Catalyzing the Modern Creative Renaissance
As a self-proclaimed 'Foresight Explorer,' I like to navigate the trends of tomorrow from today’s vantage point—with one foot in today and one in tomorrow—using observation, analysis, and intuition to chart the course of what's to come.
For me, it’s not about predicting the future; it's about exploring various possibilities and partnering with fellow change-makers to shape the most promising ones into reality.
My exploration ‘toolkit’ is powered by an insatiable curiosity, a passion for discovery, and a love of new things. I'm constantly investigating how products, businesses, and technology are evolving (both independently and, more importantly, interdependently.)
It's like being an archaeologist, but instead of digging up the past, I enjoy unearthing the future.
Whenever I stumble upon something new and exciting, especially if it promises to deliver a positive impact or bring joy to people, I can't keep it to myself. It’s like I’ve just discovered a hidden treasure; I’m eager to share the wonder. That is how I feel about AI right now. It’s new and shiny, and we all want to talk about it. There is obviously something revolutionary here, but it’s also clear we have only unearthed the very tip of what’s to be uncovered.
So, at the top of my exploration agenda is investigating how we can use this evolving zeitgeist and these tools to unleash a Modern-Day Creative Renaissance, a creative awakening that helps us reach new levels of human potential.
After all, the etymology of the word Renaissance is ‘re-birth.’
The Symbiotic Vision: Co-Creation to Amplifying Human Greatness (and Brilliance)
What does it look like to adjust to a new perspective?
For me, it starts with widening our field of vision on the human-AI relationship. Many views of AI currently focus through a narrow lens, mainly on productivity and automation applications.
While these are impressive areas—and I'm eagerly adopting every productivity hack I can—I believe only a tiny part of the picture is actually in the frame.
AI's true (r)evolutionary potential lies in its ability to widen our creative aperture to allow for an entirely new perspective.
This is where I’m excited to zoom in, even go ‘macro.’ I don't see AI as a replacement for humans; I see it as an advanced tool that allows us to re-birth our creativity.
Suppose we start to think about a more symbiotic, rather than transactional, view of human-AI collaboration as the catalyst to amplifying human greatness. In that case, we can envision a creative process where every interaction with your AI partner is unique to the two of you and reveals new insights, pushing the boundaries of possibility. As you develop your POV, your AI partner evolves with you, creating a continuous cycle of mutual growth and discovery.
This topic actually came up during a fun dinner conversation with my friend Andrew the other night.
Andrew Smith Lewis is a visionary innovator and an AI pioneer.
He is the Founder and CEO of Alai Studios — a creative AI studio that partners with ambitious brands to amplify human brilliance. Alai is an AI venture studio playing at the unique intersection of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and cutting-edge AI technology.
Andrew and I share a passion for human amplification and the concept of transformative Human-AI co-creation. He is deeply passionate about how AI can, in his words, “Amplify Human Brilliance.” In fact, it is Alai’s slogan.
Here’s what he has to say on the subject:
“There are so many organizations that are eager to use AI to improve the bottom line, increasing ROI and driving efficiencies. The issue there is that as a rising tide floats all boats, the competitive advantages of using AI for automation quickly dwindle. The real opportunities lie in uncapping the top line of business, where there is no limit to what we can achieve. This requires us to think about effectiveness over efficiencies and of creating new paths to growth. And the beauty of this way of thinking is that it challenges us to think about how to unlock the collective wisdom of our people. We need to get behind our teams and push, driving augmentation of talent and ultimately amplification of our human brilliance to reach new levels of performance. This is the space that Alai likes to play in.” -ASL
Reframing Creativity: The Visionary Opportunity
How do we kick off a Modern-Day Creative Renaissance?
Earlier today, DALL-E and I ideated on a visual representation of what this Modern-Day Creative Renaissance could look like.
Rather than an image of individuals alone in a cold environment, surrounded by tech, siloed in their homes with AR glasses on.
Our co-creation yielded a vision of humans interacting with each other and technology in a town square-like environment. Rather than showing people alone with their technology, we imagined amplification coming from interactions with other humans, the environment, and technology all integrated.
The ideal balance of art and science that drives exponential levels of inspiration and innovative thought.
Magic has always existed where people, inspired by their environment, come together to share diversity of thought and perspective.
The breakthrough will be combining that with technology, as AI moves beyond being just a tool and becomes a true co-creator—the three-legged stool of humans, environment, and technology. Imagine a tireless partner, always ready to suggest new angles, challenge your framing, and help you see details you might have missed.
That's the potential of AI in our creative landscape.
As a creative person, I have already begun seeing this manifest in my life and work. AI is not a replacement for what I can do; it’s amplifying my natural talents, and the more I use it, the more that proves true!
It's like having a bionic arm—the arm alone is a fantastic bit of technology but largely powerless when not attached to me. However, when attached, it significantly enhances my unique and natural abilities. It helps me tap into my superpowers and level up my unique brain.
As a leader of creatives, I am excited to help people amplify their individual and collective greatness through co-creation in ways that will ultimately create a unique competitive advantage and spark this modern-day creative renaissance.
I’m going to say this one loudly so even the folks in the back hear it:
I think there's a crucial distinction in how we view AI's role in creativity and our cultural (r)evolution.
One of my favorite analogies helps articulate this: Playing to win vs. Playing not to lose.
'Playing not to lose' lacks long-term innovation; it's a short-term strategy. In the AI context, this manifests as maximizing current productivity and replacing humans with AI. While initially impressive, this approach will yield diminishing returns over time.
‘Playing to win' involves optimizing current processes, but crucially, it also leverages AI to unlock and amplify unique human talents and creativity. This strategy doesn't replace human input but rather enhances (amplifies) it, leading to real advancement. It’s a growth mindset.
Especially for creatives, I urge you to use AI to unlock levels of your own unique creativity in ways that make you not only irreplaceable but, highly sought after!
The true unstoppable force isn't AI alone—it's a creative who has mastered AI to become a ‘super-creative.’ Activating people to obsess over creating is how I think we kick off the MDCR (Modern-Day Creative Renaissance!)
Don't Call Me (It) A Chatbot
Let's zoom in on the elephant in the room, or should I say the gen AI in the cloud? When we speak of AI as the creative co-pilot, we are not referring to your regular ‘ole chatbot that spits out pre-programmed responses.
We’re talking about something far more (r)evolutionary—AI that becomes an extension of your own creativity, as unique to you as your fingerprint!
Over that cheese board and a bottle of bubbles, Andrew and I found ourselves pondering this very concept. We realized that 'chatbot' just doesn't cut it. It's like calling a smartphone a 'talking calculator.' It completely misses the mark.
So, in true co-creative spirit, we brainstormed new names with ChatGPT 4o. While we have not landed the new term yet, we have surprising and thought-provoking options.
The name we choose isn't just semantics—it's about reframing how we view and interact with AI at its potential. It's not just a tool; it's a collaborator.
It's not just a program; it's a partner. As we stand on the brink of this AI (r)evolution, we have the opportunity to shape not just the technology but how we view our relationship with it!
“These advanced dialogue systems that we are all playing with are capable of so much more. Even if AI development ground to a halt and we never got ChatGPT 5 we could spend a lifetime improving our world with just the capabilities we see in current generative AI platforms. The magic happens when you take these capabilities via API into new platforms that are purpose-built to drive engagement with a custom knowledge layer (source of truth) and an intelligence layer (advanced cognitive capabilities) that takes the conversations with AI to a new level. And soon, these systems will have the ability to not just talk to us but to act upon the world via large action models (LAMs vs LLMs). Imagine creating a new concept for a product with your AI co-intelligence and then having it go out in the world and gather the team and resources you need to bring your vision to life.” -ASL
Question to you: What would you call an AI that's more companion than chatbot, more creative partner than query engine?
With that idea comes the AI persona paradox. What’s the sweet spot in anthropomorphizing your AI partner? My view? Treat it like a wise, quirky colleague rather than a soulless machine, but remember it’s not human; it’s your bionic arm.
The Co-Evolution Hypothesis: A creative companion that evolves with you, learns your quirks, and challenges your thinking in ways explicitly tailored to you presents a wild thought: As we shape AI, is AI reshaping us?
[Aside—the cover image of this piece is the visual manifestation of my personal AI companions. Co-created with DALL-E, these two are like me, a little bit art and a little bit science, and they help me tap into my left and right brain. And, of course, they are adorable!]
Embracing the Unknown: Navigating the Dualities of AI
I can’t end this Op-Ed without acknowledging two things:
There’s SO much more to talk about. This could be a novel, not an essay!
This Op-Ed has been an essentially optimistic view, but there is absolutely another side to this coin that needs to be explored and evaluated simultaneously. Two things can be true at once: the advancement in AI can bring us breakthroughs beyond our wildest imagination while also creating unintended damage. The flip of this coin is fodder for another Op-Ed. It is not to be dismissed and is worthy of its own dedicated focus as we navigate our way through this vibe shift.
We are clearly at the very start of a significant evolutionary moment, with lots of unknowns and space to hop into the driver's seat! In true THE VIBE SHIFT fashion, I encourage you to EMBRACE THE UNKNOWN and ENVISION THE UNSEEN. Learn it. Live it. Integrate it.
Drive the change you want to see!
Be Curious: Ask the questions that make your AI raise its virtual eyebrow.
Be Creative: If your ideas don't make you giggle or gasp, go wilder.
Be Cautious: Trust but verify. Fact-checking is your trusty tool in the info-jungle.
Be Courageous: Feel the fear of the unknown and create anyway. That's where the magic happens.
-JEN
Note:
Today, my human greatness was amplified through AI in the following ways:
AI helped with brainstorming and mind-mapping the flow of this Op-Ed
AI checked my grammar and spelling
AI delivered insight, probing questions, and helped me break down roadblocks
AI helped to bring the visuals in my head to life through co-created illustrations
* https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/NVDA/nvidia/market-cap
**This Op-ed is not intended to be professional advice or an expert opinion. It is a personal perspective reflecting my experiences and thoughts on AI.
What a fresh and much needed optimistic take on the potential for creatives to amplify creativity!