AI x digital industry: an interview with our experts about AI’s impact - part 2

However, AI's potential begs for exploration, which is why in part two of the series, we shift our focus to the impact of AI on two more areas: design and project management. We’re putting the spotlight on our experts to get their insights on how AI is empowering their craft, what the future holds for AI integration, and how to leverage its potential to build game-changing digital experiences that elevate your brand. 

It's very difficult to make predictions. The way things are going now, and AI is so fast-paced. Things seem impossible until some new application is released, like Sora a while back, or AI music a few weeks later, and now we're already seeing total AI film and music festivals. 

What we can be sure of is that the impact will be profound, that's really obvious. Designers will be operators letting AI work for them and with them while they create high-impact visuals and assets like never before. 

What's also clear is that the skill set of creatives needs to be more focused than ever on understanding what they want to create, and understanding how to create it. Because if you just let AI do the work, the output just might be something random or something totally generic. So you need to understand what it is you want to create and then you can let AI do the “how” for you. 

We're in the midst of a technological revolution, with innovations permeating every corner of society. This raises the question: how will these changes impact all layers of society?

Within our design team, we’ve found ways to effectively integrate AI tools in our work, although there is a difference between tools and collaboration; we are now using AI in the design department toolstack and continue to add more ways almost every week. 

Examples vary from desk market & user research with the help of GPT, to AI-assisted moodboarding, vision sketching, and UX copywriting. We also leverage generative AI functions within design software like Photoshop to create campaign materials, as well as AI-assisted motion design, i.e., animation of campaign stills, and video editing. 

AI helps save time for the more tedious tasks, making us able to deliver more high-impact work within a certain budget – although there is innovation still to be factored in as getting consistent results by AI can currently be time costly. It's a new way of working that requires a shift of skills nobody saw coming. 

Take prompting for gen-AI images for instance. Prompting skills require us to be able to describe in detail what we want to create, including artistic references and also technical instructions to achieve the ultimate vision. Deciding if something looks right or not is – currently still – a job for humans. Your vision and intuition of whether creativity hits the right note or not is currently still totally human. 

AI has an impact on visuals. The output quality is insanely impressive, great copy is easier to create and so is faster content production. This will mean a new battle on the horizon: how to cut through the impressive amount of content being flung at you?

Everyone and anyone can now create vast amounts of content with 'high converting' copy and stunning visuals. That means that the roles of brands and brand evangelists like us pivot towards being able to direct a unique brand narrative, language, and design system. Discerning the right choice for the brand, that's where we come in. 

If you let AI just write and create your messaging and visuals, there is a risk of losing your soul. That’s why a brand's unique look and tone of voice are more important than ever. Brand strategic elements like an elaborate brand personality can help configure and train AI to create messaging that is still unique for your brand, while you reap the benefits of AI’s power. 

Currently, in project management, we use AI mainly to support us and help out in communications, writing emails, and reports. But we do see the potential in utilizing this tool for so much more in our day-to-day tasks. 

One of the things that I do think can be very valuable to us and to all project managers is to utilize AI for risk management, predicting challenges with the data that you have, and foreseeing potential risks in your project. 

It's hard to predict because in project management we use a lot of software and a lot of different platforms, and it also depends what are the available connections and integrations and even AI support that the actual platform provides. For example, if we want to use a certain platform for resourcing or budgeting, we need to check what is available to also implement and use AI. 

If AI can also help us speed up on those things, then it would allow us more time as project managers to dedicate to the client. Because in the end what we want as project managers is a happy client, a satisfied client, and a great delivery of a project.

Us project managers have always juggled a million tasks, which is why AI quickly became a trusted ally. Within project management (PM), one of the biggest challenges is managing project uncertainties and risks effectively. I believe that AI has the power to address these challenges with predictive analytics and scenario planning capabilities, allowing us to anticipate and mitigate risks more proactively. 

AI also augments a PM's ability to make more strategic decisions by providing real-time insights, identifying patterns and trends, and offering course correction suggestions based on predictive analytics. 

Another challenge in PM is resource optimization and scheduling, and AI is very effective in eliminating the hassle of managing these time-consuming tasks. On top of that, leveraging AI-driven analytics and predictive modeling helps us uncover new opportunities for innovation within projects.

That’s to say, AI tools can act as "co-pilots" for project managers. The first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about a co-pilot is to improve efficiency on more administrative tasks like note-taking, summarizing an action list, and creating a project plan based on milestones, key deadlines, and such. 

While AI can automate many routine tasks and provide valuable insights, human judgment, and creativity will remain essential for effective project management. 

That’s why I think that my role will remain using AI tools to augment my capabilities, while also providing the critical thinking and leadership necessary to guide projects towards successful outcomes. So the question is not whether AI will transform our work, but how we will harness its power to create a better, more innovative future.