AI. AI. AI. What do we do about AI.
AI Made Us Faster. But At What Cost to Creative?
Every few months minutes someone asks the question if AI is replacing web designers, developers, marketers, writers, or agencies.
We cringe.
At Atomic 55, we use AI every day. Probably more than most. We build with it, test it, experiment with it, and integrate it into our own software where we feel that it can genuinely improve an experience.
We use it to debug code faster. Brainstorm ideas. Summarize mountains of information and data. Automate repetitive tasks. Speed up research. It’s a really smart calculator, and we’re big, cautious fans.
Kind of like, if you’re a fan of a sports team and that makes it to the playoffs every year. But you know deep down that they will never capture the ring. It’s still a guilty pleasure, still a fan, but also accustomed to the disappointment.
The same sounding articles.
The same generic headlines.
Same inquisitive social posts.
Website copy that’s safe, repetitive, and boring.
The same off-putting images and graphics.
If you’ve noticed that everything online is starting to feel a little… familiar, well, you’re not imagining it. We’re all living through this weird, uninspiring/brain rot driven, creative drought. It’s happening faster than the planet has time to warm, and it’s shaping up to be a cultural disaster.
Our opinion, right now, is that technology should amplify expertise, not replace it.
The businesses that stand out over the next decade won’t be the ones using the most AI. They’ll be the ones combining great technology with battle-tested experience, good judgment, and people who know when to ignore the machine.
So, what we really don’t do with AI is hand over the thinking. Trying to keep using the meat computer’s working awhile longer. And the thing with being in a creative industry and being creative people is that you are just that. Creative. AI is the opposite of creative. It is a brute force R&D machine. It’s “creative” is heavily influenced, borrowed , stolen, mashed together, and then spit out as a highly polished, slightly suspect, vanilla masterpiece. Creatives are still going to create because it’s in the blood. I don’t know if accountants feel that way about spreadsheets, but we feel that way about our industry. We hope that human-ness comes through in our work, and we hope it really shines in our consulting with businesses.
We don’t let AI replace conversations with clients. We don’t let it define marketing strategy. We know it doesn’t understand your business, your customers, or your goals, at least, not like humans in marketing for 30 years do. And we certainly don’t copy and paste whatever everyone else is generating this week.
You don’t need another company promising to “AI everything.” In fact, we implore you to not do that. Think about your customers and their experience. Think about your own experiences with AI and put yourself in those shoes. Front end AI is frustrating at best. Nobody, and I mean nobody, loves being caught in the loop. The one where your basic question takes 45 minutes of chat to get to an answer that still leaves you wondering if it’s correct.
You need a team that understands when AI helps, when it hurts, and when a real human is still the best guy for the job.
That’s where we come in.
We embrace AI. We build with it and we improve our products with it – where it makes sense.
We’ll end with something we all seem to need a refresher on these days: two things can be true at the same time. Our two truths are that we’ll never stop putting people first, and around here, nobody mistakes the calculator for the accountant.
Get in touch if you want to learn more from good humans – who also know some good robots.
