At a moment when artificial intelligence is becoming a standard part of everyday work in the communications industry, it is increasingly clear that the way we use it determines the value we extract from it. This is precisely the question addressed by Dave Birss, one of the most recognised educators and practitioners in the field of generative artificial intelligence, who will hold the lecture The productivity delusion at this year’s Slovenian Advertising Festival (SOF).
As the co-founder of GenAI Academy, Dave Birss has spent years helping companies and individuals understand the real potential of generative artificial intelligence, not through theory, but through practical application. His experience spans advertising, media and technology, including roles as creative director at agencies such as OgilvyOne London and McCann Worldgroup, which adds additional weight to his approach in the context of the creative industry.
He is the author of several influential books, including How To Get To Great Ideas, A User Guide To The Creative Mind and Iconic Advantage, and through online education in the field of artificial intelligence, he has trained more than one million people. His first AI course gathered more than 100,000 participants, placing him among the most influential educators.
The starting point of his lecture goes directly against the dominant narrative: most companies today use artificial intelligence primarily to speed up processes and reduce costs. Although speed and efficiency are undoubtedly important, such an approach very quickly leads the industry into a race in which price and volume become the key differentiators – a terrain on which the creative industry can hardly build long-term advantage. Instead, Dave Birss points to a different potential of artificial intelligence: not as a tool for optimising the existing, but as a means of creating ideas, approaches and solutions that were not previously possible.
The central part of the lecture focuses on the difference between two models of using artificial intelligence. On one side is AI as a “photocopier”, a tool that reproduces existing patterns, accelerates production and stays within familiar frameworks. On the other side is AI as a creative partner, a technology that can expand the way of thinking, open new directions and enable a different approach to problem-solving.
The uncomfortable truth it raises is that most agencies today use artificial intelligence in the first way, while at the same time believing they are building the future.
A large part of his work today is focused on balancing the creative process and technological progress, especially on the question of how artificial intelligence can complement, rather than replace, human inventiveness. Through the “Sensible AI Manifesto”, a set of practical principles for working with artificial intelligence, Dave Birss aims to provide a clear framework for understanding not only its possibilities, but also the responsibilities that come with its application.
The lecture The productivity delusion will be held as part of SOF on May 14 at 11:00 in the Magazin Grando hall.
