AI: Chasing efficiency or perfection?
AI is everywhere, and everyone is excited about it. Am I excited? Not much - yet. Don't get me wrong, I am excited about AI in general. But from my point of view, most current AI use cases look very generic and uninspiring, so it’s not something that gives me goosebumps. Why am I not amazed? Is it because the right people don't have their hands on AI yet?
I agree that it makes sense to automate and simplify or AI-power the boring life actions like ordering cabs, ordering food, buying tickets, booking hotels for business stays, accounting, translations, etc. That's what Siri, Google Assistant, or upcoming devices like Humane Ai Pin or Rabbit R1 try to do. Are they doing it well? I don't think so. If you ask me, what's going to finally bring the power of AI to the masses, I believe it's going to be a good and fitting design.
You can read dozens of articles about how AI can make your professional life more efficient and easier and how you can use AI-based tools to create things you weren't able to create before.
Currently, AI is going through a phase similar to what UX experienced years ago or blockchain encountered more recently. It's flooded with noise, with people trying to exploit the trend and others attempting to sell you something. If you know someone who transitioned from SEO to UX, then to Blockchain, and now to AI, you know what I mean.
The nature of creativity
Professionally, many people use AI to create content. To write articles and create visuals to impress others. Those two areas are connected with art, and art is deeply connected with creativity. Creativity is something that I believe is rooted in humanity itself. People have always wanted to express themselves, change things, shape the future, and change the world, even the smallest bit of it.
The most successful people in our history used their entire lives to achieve something, to chase perfection. It was their passion. Does it make sense to make one of your passions more efficient? More automated? Faster? It's a process you should enjoy. Are we going to enjoy this the same way with technology doing this for us?
Some are going to enjoy, because most people want to avoid the hard work, and a lot of them don't really like what they do. So, those people are most excited that some AI magic is going to do the job for them and they’ll be paid for it, so they can do something else, something they really enjoy.
Speed thrills but kills
The main cause of the rise of AI in creative area is that right now everyone is so focused on efficiency and speed. We don't want to create beautiful and great things, we want to create things in an efficient way, quickly. As an industry, we are okay with creating mediocre things fast, but we are not okay with chasing potentially superb things, if it takes time. If something takes time, it scares people.
If you aren't willing to go through the long process of learning something, if you aren't talented or if you aren't skilled in any area, AI-powered tools can help you create something quickly, which is going to be, well ~ average at best, but probably it's going to be enough for the job.
Recently, I heard a phrase, "better done than perfect." That's a scary approach. If the intention is that they need something now but aim to polish it in the future, it's okay. But usually, and in the case I mentioned, there wasn’t a plan to polish it in the future. They just didn't care. That's a very toxic approach.
Using AI to master that approach can be compared to drug use. As one of the latest Czech media anti-drug campaigns says, "Drug use is a shortcut" to achieve something, usually a success or a state of mind or a better feeling. Some people use AI to create a shortcut to success. There's no struggle, no reward, and there's no lesson learned.
In my latest blog about Rediscovering the Human Essence in Design, I wrote about the security of optimizing things, about the efficiency trap. "Can we enhance our work, life, dating, marriage, love, and passions by making them more efficient? Would that make sense? Would we enjoy it? Would it guarantee the best results? I don't think so.“
Why is the industry focused on chasing efficiency, instead of perfection? Let's use AI to help us chase perfection and beauty and enjoy the ride.