AI isn’t just arriving in the creative sector in 2025; it’s here now. From Drake’s AI-generated music videos in 2023 to instant campaign graphics in 2024, its impact is undeniable. Now, ad agencies in London and freelance designers in Lagos face a pivotal question: Is AI enhancing creativity or eroding it?
From Brainstorm to Brief in Seconds
Tools such as ChatGPT, Notion AI, and Midjourney have proven indispensable for several organizations. They significantly expedite the chaotic phases of ideation. Need twenty headline alternatives by midday? AI helps you. For financial technology campaign moodboards, quickly generate one with a Midjourney prompt.
In Nigeria, social media freelancers, content producers, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) use these technologies not just to compete, but also to exist. When bandwidth and funding are limited, AI tools become creative collaborators. However, the speed AI offers presents an unpleasant question: if it can do it quicker, what role does the human intellect play?
Efficiency vs. Originality: The Core Tension
The biggest tension? Speed versus soul.
AI can remake, rethink, and scale, but it can’t feel. It can generate an ad, but it can’t remember what a Fuji song means to people. An image can be made by it, but it can’t pick up on local slang. If we depend too much on AI, our work might look good but won’t feel real.
In an age when Nigerian audiences are more drawn to emotionally gripping, hyper-local content, authenticity remains paramount.
Job Killer or Creative Collaborator?
Existential dread due to AI fills all sectors. Regarding ChatGPT, copywriters express concern. Midjourney poses a significant challenge for illustrators. Tensions arise as voice actors discuss ElevenLabs. Alarmingly, some agencies use AI to covertly oust entry-level employees.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Some of Nigeria’s greatest creatives approach AI as a co-creator rather than a rival. They feed it Pidgin prompts. They combine AI-generated artwork with conventional illustrations. Ultimately, they utilize technology to automate repetitive work, allowing them to concentrate on big ideas.
READ ALSO: Don’t complex, bot simplex: navigating AI in marketing
Navigating Ethical Grey Areas
When AI enters the creative process, new questions arise:
- Who owns work made by AI?
- Is your piece still yours if it’s 90% Midjourney and 10% Photoshop?
- What happens when AI takes something from an artist without crediting them?
AI could make things even less clear in Nigeria, where IP regulation is already weak. Now, creative companies must set their own rules and limits for issues like fair use, privacy, and true creativity.
Are We Using the Tools, Or Being Replaced by Them?
In reality, both scenarios are unfolding simultaneously. Those who view AI merely as a quick fix, lacking in depth and purpose, might achieve fleeting success but will ultimately face long-term obscurity. Conversely, individuals who weave AI into a larger creative narrative are effectively adapting to the changing landscape.
In Nigeria’s vibrant and tenacious creative landscape, adaptability is paramount.
The New Creative Equation
AI will be a constant. However, empathy, intuition, culture, and chaos—the very essence of creativity—cannot be programmed. Instead of man against machine, the focus should be on man with machine when it comes to Nigerian creativity.
Bots won’t win in the most effective campaigns. Instead, a human touch, powered by AI, will define them.
Questions Nigerian Creatives Should Ask in 2025
- Does my use of AI enhance or supplant my creativity?
- Can AI imitate my unique style?
- Are my agency’s training teams prepared to employ AI strategically and ethically?
- In what ways am I unique that AI isn’t?
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