By James Bush, Head of Creative Technology, Dentsu Creative
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Day four at SXSW and I think we may have hit peak AI. I have no idea if Nicole Kidman’s session delved into AI but I’m fairly confident that it did.
Instead, I chose to go to the Generation AI: Exploring the Future of Tech-Powered Creativity session with David Droga. You could have been confused about which session you were queuing for based on the number of people who stood in line to hear what David had to say. I’m not sure many other ad execs would have the same draw.
As you might expect from a session with the “Dingo of Wall Street” it was a quick fire session of wisdom, rhetorical questions and anecdotes. He was very clear on how we need to stop thinking about how AI will replace us and instead we should think about how we embrace the technology and explore what we can do with it. That we should ride the wave of technology and as it evolves, we will too.
To quote David, “Creativity is innovation. Stop being romantic about how tech is going to eat us. It’s going to be a battle and creativity is worth fighting for.”
David spoke at length about how “Creative people ask different questions”, this really resonated with me. The way creatives think is completely different, they tend to find opportunity in spaces where others might not. By their very nature they tend to be curious and relevant, they care about the outcomes. This is their advantage. Technology won’t change or replace this.
Or as Bernbach put it, “It may well be that creativity is the last unfair advantage we’re legally allowed to take over our competitors.”
Did someone say Droga or Prime Minister? Give the people what they want David!
From an ad industry icon to a Grammy award winning hip hop legend is how the day continued with Chance The Rapper giving Thursday’s Keynote, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop.
Chance not only delved into the history of hip hop and his journey, but spoke at length about the similarities across the industries of artists, creators and entrepreneurs.
Hip Hop is a form of expression, a platform for truth and justice. This platform gave him the voice and confidence to build networks to give freedom to others. A great example of this is SocialWorks, a platform he founded, which aims to empower the youth through the arts, education, and civic engagement.
Chance also spoke at length about the importance of artists being independent and the challenge of working with or being signed to the bigger labels – the red tape and bureaucracy that lawyers bring, not to mention how much that eats into an artist’s take home.
The session gave a great insight into how the music industry is ripe for reinvention and like most industries today, it is coming from the bottom up and top down.
The music element of SXSW is now in full swing and it was great to see Tumbalong Park full of Sydney residents checking out the K-Pop artists. The weekend looks like it is going to be big. If you get the chance I recommend checking out anything on the roster, you won’t be disappointed.
See Also: SXSW Sydney 2023: Dentsu Creative recaps Wednesday