How to become irreplaceable in the age of AI

Everyone says AI is going to replace creatives. They're wrong. If you understand and apply these three shifts you will be irreplaceable.

But before we dive in, we are going to make two assumptions in this video.

• That Gen AI keeps improving at its current rate
• And that the financial model for the AI companies becomes sustainable, because currently it is not.

Be a strategist or visionary

Or in other words, be the painter, not the paintbrush.

Organizations are filled with two kinds of people - those who plan and strategize, and those who execute. If your role is purely execution you're at a disadvantage.

A lot of GenAI solutions fix bottlenecks in the pipeline. Which means if your job is to fix bottlenecks, you’re in trouble because AI tools will always be more efficient than you. You must become a strategist or a visionary.

Gen AI is not true intelligence - it's a math function that generates information based on the data it's trained on. What it generates will always be an average of what exists. If you want to break new ground as a creative, you must use your own intelligence and the AI tool as an exceptionally efficient assistant.

But what does it mean to be a visionary? Let's look at these two photos.

Both look great aesthetically. But this one moves you in a deeply profound way. With a single image, the great Sebastião Salgado talks about class divide, hope, struggle, and capitalism.

It's not enough that what you make looks good - the aesthetic quality must be the tip of the iceberg of a deep well of meaning.

So that's the first shift: be the painter, not the paintbrush. But being a visionary isn't enough if you can't execute at a high level. Which brings us to point two.

Double down on mastering your craft

Everyone is under the impression that skill is going to become worthless. I'd like to propose the opposite.

Look at the AI tool as your apprentice struggling to understand your instructions. The only way to make it understand you better is to give better instructions.

Fundamentally, when your craft is at a high level, the language you use when solving a problem is vastly different from when you're a beginner.

For example, an amateur filmmaker will look at raw footage and say, "Hey, increase the contrast and saturation" - and be done with it. But someone with experience will know to say: "Add a color space transform, increase the contrast at a pivot of .336 as middle grey, use a linear colour space to control the saturation, add a tint, some vignette and blur, and a window to increase the exposure around the subject."

Two people can use the same AI tool for the same job, but the person with a deeper understanding of the craft can have a more intelligent conversation with the tool and wield it as an extension of themselves.

Master your craft so you can have an intelligent conversation with the tool. But here's the thing - even if you're a visionary AND a master craftsperson, it doesn't matter if you are not seen as a source of trust and reliability. Which brings us to the third shift - and this is the one most creatives resist.

Own the client relationship

Even though it has nothing to do with creativity, it's still your greatest leverage.

Often, creatives sit back and do the work while someone else manages the client relationship. You need to be that person who manages the client relationship as well.

It's true that it's who you know that gets you places. This isn't about kissing ass. It's about understanding human nature.

Think about it: if you need someone to work with on a project, you're more likely to choose the person recommended by someone you trust than a stranger - all other factors being equal. That's just how we operate.

When clients know you personally - when they hear you speak, understand how your mind works, and see that you help them minimize cost, time, and risk - you are seen as a source of trust and reliability. And trust and reliability are extremely rare, and therefore extremely valuable.

If you truly understand and apply these ideas, you'll position yourself as an expert without having to kill your prices to get a job.

The truth is, this has always been the case. The best of the best always did this. But now, becoming the best of the best has become more of a necessity than a luxury.