Artificial intelligence and Elizabeth Steinberg's future of creativity

Artificial intelligence.  It is the subject on everyone’s mind in the world of arts and sciences. To many people, the topic of AI, specifically generative AI, is a sensitive subject. Many believe it is a future that we should all embrace, while others see it as a threat to their jobs and human identity.

Despite the confusion, the fear, and the fighting behind AI, many people take the time to look critically at the pros and cons of the technology. Recently, UW-River Falls had the honor of a public lecture with someone who has done just that.

Elizabeth Steinberg is an award-winning art director whose projects are best known for using motion design in branding. She has completed projects for many big businesses, including Netflix, Google, and Microsoft. Her lecture, titled The Future of Creativity: How AI is Transforming Art, Motion Design, and Marketing, took a middle-ground approach when it came to the use of AI and even changed my own views on artificial intelligence.

As an example of AI’s potential, Steinberg demonstrated where she herself used AI to create the title sequence of The New Look on Apple TV+.

Steinberg wanted to juxtapose sewing with World War II in the title sequences, and used techniques such as overlaying the sound of a sewing machine with the image of a wall riddled with bullet holes. However, many shots were difficult to capture, such as wide shots of France in the distance and an overhead shot of a row of anti-tank Czech hedgehogs. A few of the shots in the trailer would have taken too long or were too complex to even create a rough draft.

Steinberg used very specific prompts in a generative AI system to generate images to see if they would work in the title sequence, then manually edited the photos to give them a more realistic and human touch. In the end, it all came together to create a beautiful title sequence made with both human creativity and AI enhancements.

Artificial intelligence in cases like this functions as what Steinberg called “an intern:” someone who is eager to learn things but who will ultimately fall short of those who are professionals in their field. AI tools only produce what they are instructed to, and the person behind the prompt is the one that has to be specific and start with their own vision.

Steinberg stated that the people who will be the best to adapt to AI in business are artists, because they are the ones that can “bring the vibes,” or creativity, to the table. Steinberg stated that artists won’t just adapt to the rise of generative AI, but will need to use it more often than the producers, because artists know how to bring emotion to an image.

Like many, I was skeptical of AI. After all, while artists and creators can bring the human touch, most of the time, larger corporations will most likely use it to cut the cost of hiring real people. Steinberg herself even stated that generative AI is very consumerism-driven.

But something about Steinberg’s lecture influenced my thinking. Sure, there is a lot of good and a lot of bad, but the curriculum behind AI is still changing. Different brands are experimenting with their own proprietary AI models, and the information that AI models can take in is getting more expansive. Yet despite that, every generative AI is still an intern. It needs to be taught.

Many creative things can stem from using AI as an artistic tool. If you don’t believe me, consider the title sequence for The New Look. Steinberg was able to make incredible visuals using a generative AI that looked no different than if it had been created with animation software or on a drawing tablet. Art reflects the culture and the society within it, and the technology used to make that art also reflects this. After all, if progress were never made with technology in art, we would still be drawing on cave walls with our hands.

I was completely against AI before listening in on Steinberg’s lecture. But now I realize that we, the writers, the artists, the graphic designers, the animators, are the ones AI is for. It is our tool to allow ourselves to create our best work by our own hand. And when AI becomes as common as a Google search or a scroll on TikTok, we will be the ones that define its purpose.