If you work in a creative field, artificial intelligence is going to make your job obsolete. OK, that’s not actually true. But the media certainly makes it sound that way. Like usual, the truth is more nuanced than that. Yes, AI could eliminate certain tasks currently done by humans. But it is ultimately a “tool of opportunity” that enables human creativity. What does that mean? To find out we talked to the experts: Bill Skrief and Todd Reinhart, partners and co-founders of creative agency DeadLizard.

AI speeds up creative work

Creatives have been using AI in one form or another for a long time. Most professional tool sets, such as Photoshop, use AI. This is obvious in many of the filters, but it’s also long been a part of simple tasks like helping determine what the subject matter is in a photo when cropping.

AI “definitely increases your speed,” says Skrief. “And at the end of the day, you end up with a better product. Of course … that’s what you do want. You want to deliver the best results for your client. But it’s really amazing that AI does support you so much in getting a great output.”

AI shifts where you can focus

Ultimately, creatives are still the ones coming up with ideas — with AI here to help in the realization of those ideas.

AI “frees you up to do other types of work that you may not have been able to do, or were unable to actually bring in under your sphere of influence because you didn’t have the bandwidth for it,” says Reinhart.

That’s good for creatives and their clients alike. The creative and design process can be long and tedious, so if AI is able to help in the production stage by cutting labor time significantly, the designer is able to spend more time exploring the creative process, which will inevitably lead to a more quality product. On a practical level, shifting less-creative tasks to AI may eliminate some jobs. However, it can also make space for new jobs that are more focused on creative output rather than the smaller tasks within the creative process.

Artificial Intelligence is here to stay

For brands struggling to get on board with the use of artificial intelligence, the best advice would be to be flexible and stay open to it. The world is changing every day, with more events and messaging reaching audiences virtually. With this in mind, it’s important to keep up with the times, while still keeping your brand’s identity and integrity intact. AI might not be something your company uses frequently, but it’s something to stay open to as it becomes more popular in mainstream media.

“Regardless of where you are on that spectrum, the reality is technology is going to go where it’s going to go,” says Reinhart. “You can fight the torrent if you want, or you can try to ride it and be open to where it’s going to take you.”