There are proponents in marketing and design who have positioned AI as a tool to streamline workflow or act as a collaborative assistant, allowing practitioners to concentrate on strategy and big ideas while machines take care of repetitive tasks or “heavy lifting.” However, whether you handle the creative for your firm, have creatives on your team, or hire an agency to handle audio/visual communications, it is essential to honor the human spark that lies at the core of the creative process.

A/E/C marketers and business developers derive satisfaction from helping our firms win work, expand into new markets, deepen client relationships, and attract top talent. We are motivated by knowing we are at the forefront of maintaining clear messaging, differentiation, and positioning our firms for success.

Creatives are makers who have an inherent need to craft memorable, new visual and audio content. In our industry, creatives collaborate with marketers to develop sharp brands, compelling videos, dynamic infographics, and well-designed proposals that enhance marketing initiatives. What happens for creatives when the “maker” part is handed over to AI?

AI has hijacked their reward pathways and reduced the emotional, psychological struggle inherent to authentic iterative creation. Creatives must rediscover the meaning of their craft and redefine their relationship with AI. For further reading, see the seven fundamental steps in the creative process discussed in the article “Let Creativity Be Your Guide”. Marketers who execute creative work or collaborate with creatives, as well as the creatives themselves, can underestimate their susceptibility to the behavioural, psychological, and physiological effects of AI-driven demotivation.

For smaller firms with tight budgets who are using no or low-cost solutions, you and your team can still make a difference by teaching your leadership and creatives to view AI as a collaborative partner for brainstorming and overcoming creative obstacles, rather than a generator of ready-made solutions. The endgame is to create a comprehensive “AI playbook” that clearly identifies routine tasks suitable for automation. This strategic approach eliminates workflow obstacles, promotes deeper creative flow states, and redirects focus toward the soulful, rewarding elements of creative practice. The responsibility to protect human creativity extends beyond the organization; creatives themselves must deliberately preserve time for AI-free creative exploration and experimentation to prevent skill deterioration and reignite their passion for their craft. Creative resistance to AI adoption is deeply personal, often rooted in the fear of becoming obsolete as automated tools threaten to replace human judgment and erode long-cultivated expertise. Honest communication is essential to acknowledge these hard facts: AI may indeed outperform lower-level creatives in certain routine aspects. No solution is free from pushback, and both employees and firms bring genuine concerns to the table. However, this discussion must be reframed to emphasize that AI adoption should enhance employability, not threaten it. Employees should see mastery of AI as a way to increase their value and future-proof their roles, recognizing that upward mobility will increasingly favor those who invest in levelling up their AI skills.