Early Adoption of Generative AI in Creative Applications

We’re beginning to see more creators find innovative uses for AI in their art. From a research perspective, this is significant. Because these creators are playing a vital role in revolutionizing how we think about creativity: they’re early adopters.

Early adopters are to the creative process what prototypes are to the research process: an artifact creator that paves a path for others to follow—and proves that the technology works. They create a recipe, something to iterate on and learn from. It’s early proof that something can be done.

I often think about it this way: getting from zero to one is the hardest. Getting from one to two is still very hard, but a little bit easier. Then, getting from two to ten is relatively easy. Early adopters can set off a scaling wave of creative innovation that revolutionizes how we think about artistic creation.

For example, we know that AI is already changing what’s possible in creative industries. But what if AI could expand creative breadth?

It’s becoming more possible than ever before for artists to tell stories in new ways, in new places, using new mediums. With AI, a musician can explore new sonic worlds, discover new inspirations, and more fully realize their artistic vision. AI unlocks a wider expression of the musician’s artistic vision.

Consider a video that changes every time it is watched or changes based on the context it is being watched. The technology to enable such dynamic content has existed for a while. It works incredibly well. And it keeps getting better. But we haven’t had an early adopter—someone to take that first step, from zero to one.

People look to early adopters to understand the process of actually making something with AI. Was it challenging to use? Or was the process fairly frictionless? Was it expensive and time-consuming? Or was it cost-effective and approachable? Did it create an interesting output? Was it tastemaking, trend-setting and influential, or did it fade into the background?

We’re still building processes and tools. And they’re going to get better. We’re going to see more artifacts. Because the presence of early adopters means that we’ve begun the journey from zero to one. And that means we’re well on the way from one to ten.