Keeping up With AI
“You’re not supposed to give people what they want. You're supposed to give them what they don't know they want yet.”
Remember when Keeping up With the Kardashians was the only cultural controversy? Today, keeping up with AI has become the most controversial conversation of our time. AI is no longer the narrative or the story, it has become the lead role. Great stories are never about great stories; great stories are always about the main character because it is always up to main character where to take their own story. Which one gets the spotlight? Which of these gets to take the stage? The great story or the lead role? That is another controversy. And there is no definitive answer. It all depends on how we choose to look at it; perhaps the real revelation lies not in what we see, but in how we choose to see; and the way we decide to look at things says a lot about how we perceive both; ourselves and the world around us.
AI just arrived announcing itself as the runway debut of a new era. And it did not arrive quietly. It made the entrance of Lady Gaga at the Met Gala. And we have witnessed this before; many times. This is a historical pattern for us to question the new, to fear change, and to fall into biased comparisons. Painters or photographers. Theater of film. The print or the digital publications. Brick and mortar or e-commerce. And here we are, more than ever, queuing for Birkins and labubus.
I remember more than 8 years back I heard one entrepreneur saying that AI will never replace humans; but the people who know how to work with AI will replace the ones who don’t. There is a lot going on these days, and people are resisting this evolution. Big announcements, heavy conversations, and deep accusations. Who is initiating these controversies? We are. The paradox is that the people in the creative fields -whether in film, media, or arts - are the ones claiming that AI has announced the death of creativity.
I’ve come across a beautiful piece written by Salman Khan; the “sleep on the problem” method. The visionary behind Khan Academy says that whenever he is faced with a complex problem, he wouldn’t force a solution. “I would engage with them for a few minutes and then delegate them to my subconscious.” And he adds: “I have faith that my brain, or someone else’s, will come up with a creative solution in the morning.” This is the quiet magic of the human mind. The initial spark always comes from the mind, and that spark breeds imagination; and once we put that imagination into practice, we witness creativity.
A while back, I was speaking with a friend about my desire to publish online few of my articles. My friend said “2025 marks the death of writers. Who will want to read random articles in the time of AI” and I went cold. For six months. Literally.
Makes sense; no? It took me 6 months to figure out that her perspective was, in fact, a total nonsense- for me, and that her perspective reveals her own limitations not mine. The people who believe that AI is going to replace humans are the same people who declare that a certain business is going to fail because the market is saturated. I didn’t know why it took me some time to absorb the statement she made. As if a 6 month freeze of thought would make me ready to accept the arrival of AI; just like the public call of the 6 months pause that was published by the Future of Life Institute and signed by many; to prepare for the unsettling speed of innovation.
I have come to believe that we witness what we are ready for. We may look like we are not accepting innovation, but I believe it arrived in the perfect time; whether or not we choose to acknowledge it. And like my forever muse said it once : “You’re not supposed to give people what they want. You're supposed to give them what they don't know they want yet.”
Disclaimer: AI, creativity, and imagination are not topics to be contained. They are open-ended conversations. This article is the first of many; it serves as an introduction and a single point of view. More reflections will follow in the upcoming articles.
Such an amazing thought! Please keep writing