Anders Sorman-Nilsson: why fundamental human skills and creativity will be vital in the age of AI and machines

We’ve all seen, perhaps even been fooled by, the images: the Pope in a white Balenciaga puffer jacket, or Donald Trump being dragged to the ground and arrested on the streets of New York. We’ve experienced it on screen, when a de-aged version of Harrison Ford appeared in the latest Indiana Jones film, and when the 2021 Anthony Bourdain documentary, Roadrunner, “deep faked” his voice and used it for dialogue. We’ve even heard the music: a track featuring copy of Drake and The Weeknd so convincing that it had to be pulled from circulation in April. Later this year, the Beatles will release a final album, featuring the voice of John Lennon — even though he’s been dead for more than 40 years. Artificial intelligence, bedded down in the technology and science spaces, has made its way into the creative arts. AI can write copy, create artwork, compose music and approximate a photograph (albeit with glitches, such as stray hands and dodgy looking fingers — for now, at least). There are bigger threats, of course — just last month, industry experts and tech leaders signed a letter calling for an immediate six-month moratorium on AI development, with warnings that if it continues to advance, it will outnumber us, outsmart us and make us “obsolete”. But what will become of creativity, that most human of endeavours, as we hurtle down this road? Futurist Anders Sorman-Nilsson, a lawyer turned trends forecaster whose client list includes Apple, Dyson, Adobe and LEGO, has a more optimistic, less dystopian view of where things might lead. In a keynote speech at a special The West Australian Pulse forum, at the Art Gallery of WA on July 13, the Sydney-based founder of Thinque will forecast “a second renaissance of flourishing human creativity and technological breakthrough, where the arts and the cultural sector will be absolutely key”. The forum, titled An Empty Canvas — a Future without Creatives, will explore the risks of a world that doesn’t value human creativity, including the legacy of what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently described as the “calculated neglect” of the $17 billion arts industry in Australia (he was unveiling a new national cultural policy, declaring “arts jobs are real jobs”). Statistics show a 45 per cent drop in Year 12 students finishing ATAR visual arts courses over the past decade, against the backdrop of incentives for those who choose to study STEM subjects while HECS fees for arts courses doubled in 2020-21. “In Australia, we’ve over-indexed and over-promoted coding and STEM-based skill — purely sciences, technology, engineering and maths — at the expense of the arts, at the expense of emotional intelligence, at the expense of creativity and innovation,” Sorman-Nilsson tells STM from the airport, where he is waiting to fly to Brazil to speak at a Google conference on the future of education. “Against the background of artificial intelligence, while it’s really good to have all those STEM based skills, the first thing that will be roboticised and digitised is the left brain, in the sense of logic, sequence, high volume routine work. “My forecast is that in an age of machines and artificial intelligence, the fundamentally human skills of communication, collaboration, creative expression and problem solving — not just number crunching — are going to be absolutely key.” AGWA director Colin Walker acknowledges it is a confronting topic for artists and for the gallery to grapple with, but hopes attendees will leave the forum “feeling inspired and terrified in equal measure”. “It’s a rapidly changing world and one in which we need to hold onto and prioritise our humanness and creativity,” he says. “I believe it’s essential for organisations such as AGWA to embrace these conversations and issues, ensuring that the arts are driving discussions about the future of creativity, and the future of society and industry.” Sorman-Nilsson argues that the explosion of creativity seen during the Renaissance period in the 15th and 16th centuries sprang from an intersection of issues — including the Black Plague (where the horrific death toll led to people questioning their religious beliefs and meant workers were at a premium), labour-saving technologies and influential people who espoused the virtues of both the arts and the sciences. There were parallels with the recent COVID pandemic, where a decade of digital transformation was compressed into just a few years and people also reconnected to what they valued, reassessing jobs, employers, consumption patterns and how they spend their lives. “I think in a similar way, now, people are recognising that technology can liberate us to do less of the menial and the mundane in our everyday work, (allowing) us to do more of the meaningful and the humane,” Sorman-Nilsson says. He gives the example of the push in recent years for students to learn to code — now, artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, can write source code in seconds. Instead, he says, people should lean into areas where humans can excel, because the innovation required in coming years, including to achieve the targets outlined under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, will not be achieved by focusing solely on the sciences. “Yes, climate science and technologies are going to be key, but if you look at the 17 different goals, a lot of them actually require really great communication, collaboration and creative expression, to put them on the agenda — telling stories of why we all need to invest,” he says. “We’re talking about analytical thinking, yes, but also innovation. We’re talking about active learning, complex problem-solving. We’re talking about creativity, originality and initiative, about leadership and communication. We’re talking about design and reasoning.” This year, the World Economic Forum’s survey of businesses found most believed creative thinking will be the skill in highest demand by 2027, with growth of 73 per cent. In its Future of Jobs Report 2023, creative thinking jumped above analytical thinking (the current number one) and technological literacy sat at number three. “There’s more of a focus and an interest in having people with analytical thinking, people with creativity,” WEF managing director Saadia Zahidi told the Radio Davos podcast. “But it’s also become very important to have leadership skills and to have social influence, and the ability to work with other people. The traits that make us human, make us able to relate with each other and to get innovative, creative things done in the workplace.” Sorman-Nilsson says while it is important to acknowledge that AI is now making in-roads into the creative space, through programs such as Mid Journey and lensr.ai, “there is a slightly longer runway”. He predicts the use of AI in art will likely be an “and/also” situation, rather than “either/or”, as it can give rise to new digital art forms that people can harness. “With any new creative or technological tool, the question is, how do we use it in our work? Some people might just choose to be educated about that and then not use it,” he says, “but you’ll ignore it at your peril”. Walker argues that while new technology has always created winners and losers in art, AI “promises less than it offers for artists” because it is based on appropriating the intellectual property of others. “The tech companies are happy enough to use the imagery of living artists to kick start AI programs but the artists’ rights, and so access to the money, become lost,” he says. “Aside from the inevitable few artists who will make it to the top of the commercial and institutional market, for the rest, I think they’re headed to a place where their talent is used to benefit others … “There’ll always be opportunities in art, with or without the latest technology. If you’re comfortable with tech, then learn and explore its full potential but keep hold of your copyright along the way.” What will become vitally important in the age of artificial intelligence, Sorman-Nilsson says, is the ability to determine a piece of art’s “human provenance”. Given author and “deep fake” expert Nina Schick recently estimated that 90 per cent of online content could be generated by AI by 2025, how will we know what we can trust? Aside from the obvious cyber-security concerns, Sorman-Nilsson says there will be a growing hunger for art created by people, no matter how good the AI versions get. Even when art is digitised, into a non-fungible token, for example, it will become increasingly important that it be verified as “being the blood, sweat and tears of a human being invested into something”. “We can think, ‘oh, a real human did that; it wasn’t just generated in two seconds by an AI, crunching numbers and data. It was a 17 year old, in their last year of school, and this is their visual arts project that they exhibit at AGWA’, for example,” he says. “And it was something that was really unique.” “I think if humans stopped expressing themselves, because they just think that they can be outsourced to an AI, that’s a very dangerous move. We need humans in the loop when it comes to the creative use of artificial intelligence.” And Sorman-Nilsson points out that studying arts may not always lead to artistic practice as a career, but it can lead to out-of-the-box approaches that will be crucial to the planet’s future, including combating climate change with new renewable energy. For example, WA is one of the world’s biggest producers of lithium, used in products including rechargeable batteries, yet exports it all and buys back the products; Sorman-Nilsson says maybe disruptive, entrepreneurial thinking could change that. Just as the original Renaissance man/woman/person was a polymath with multiple skills and interests, the leaders of the future will be the same. “If you’ve just started visual arts school, you may never become a commercial artist. But it’s your way of thinking and the way you nurture your creativity and your creative personality that a large corporation will massively value,” he says. “The UN Sustainable Development Goals, I think, are real creativity catalysts. Basically, they ask us to do more with less — achieve more, but within planetary constraints — and that’s all creativity and innovation. “Sustainability is not just the green tech; it’s also social, and about governance and inclusiveness and diversity and equity. These are philosophical, creative, humanist questions we should be asking ourselves. If we all just learn maths, we’re not going to get there.” An Empty Canvas, 6-8pm on July 13 at AGWA, will feature Anders Sorman-Nilsson’s keynote and a panel discussion with Nobel Laureate Barry Marshall, fashion director Grace Lam, creative director Ken Leung, visual artist Anna Louise Richardson and director, performer and writer Cezera Critti-Schnaars. This is a free event but bookings are essential.