What happens next

I try not to do a lot of content on AI. Not that I’m not thinking about it, simultaneously impressed and disgusted by it, and using it… It just seems like you’re probably already getting enough of that shoved in your face.

But I’ve been chewing on an observation for the last few weeks now, and I just can’t get the taste out of my mouth.

The AI divide.

It’s probably not what you’re thinking. There is a divide between those who are embracing it with open claws and those who are fighting against it. But I’m not sure we have much of a choice. AI is just going to be part of how we use any kind of software.

The divide I’m talking about is in the ambition of how people are using it. Agencies, specifically.

I’m noticing people falling into one of two camps:

• Camp A: Using AI to do less work
• Camp B: Using AI to do more work

We see a lot of folks in that first camp. They’re the ones bragging about one-shotting a new client project in 30 minutes. It’s generic, uninspired, and a bit lifeless. It feels very AI (which is something even non-technical people are starting to pick up on).

But it does save a lot of time. And as cookie-cutter as it may be, in some cases that’s still a higher quality than some people were able to produce on their own pre-AI.

But the other group, Camp B, they’re taking a different approach. They’re not using AI just to plow through their workload faster. They’re using AI to go further.

Instead of coming up with 2 or 3 concepts for a design, they’re doing a dozen. Then they’re auditing them against detailed UX/UI best practices, checking alignment with the brand, comparing them against competitors, and refining the work far beyond what they would have had time for before.

The people in Camp B aren’t using AI to spend less time on projects, they’re using AI to help them do deeper, more considered work.

Both camps are using AI to save time, but what they do with that time is where I see a widening divide.

To be honest, I’m a little worried for the folks in Camp A. Yes, it’s saving you time and money (both things that are good for the bottom line of any business), but that kind of work is plummeting in value. If the work you’re producing can be one-shotted in 30 minutes, then it won’t be long before it’s the kind of work not worth paying for.

That does not mean that AI makes our agencies worthless. There’s just no more value in getting to the first “good enough” answer. Anyone can get there now.

The value is in what happens next. That’s the choice we all have to make with the time AI hands back to us.