TPG’s Senior Videographer & Editor Jake Melara weighs in on a topic on everyone’s minds these days – artificial intelligence and how it is affecting our professions, industries, and jobs. Perhaps the key is a change in one’s perspective?
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In his book Outliers (2008), Malcolm Gladwell argues that it takes 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” to become an expert. If we break it down, it equates to spending eight hours a day, five days a week, for 44 weeks over 5.5 years. Many researchers have since refuted this claim, but I believe dedicating 5.5 years to something is a good amount of time to, at the very least, become competent in it.
I chose a career in marketing because I saw it as a way to express my creativity and tell unique stories while also supporting myself. However, the recent advancement in AI has made me reflect on my journey as a creative professional and question if I made the right decision.
I dedicated myself to specializing in video and photography, investing years in honing advanced technical skills in cameras, lighting, lenses, and editing software. I was putting in my 10,000 hours to perfect the craft, and this technical expertise, matched with my creativity, made me feel unique. However, with the recent advancement of AI technology, I have noticed a significant shift in the creative space that excites and unsettles me. AI can now accomplish specialized tasks that typically take me hours, if not days, in just a few minutes. I have come across tools that can automate the entire video production process. You input a prompt for the video you want, press enter, and a video is instantly created. Moreover, these tools are becoming more accessible to “non-professionals,” allowing them to create without needing specialized skills. I’m excited about the efficiency that this brings because it will allow me to focus more on the creative aspects of my job by offloading laborious and tedious tasks. However, anyone can do my job practically with more ease and speed than I ever could.
The realization I’ve come to is deeply humbling: my perceived uniqueness may not have been rooted in creativity as much as in technical proficiency. It’s been an eye-opening experience to acknowledge that the advantage I thought I had was based on time and dedication to perfecting these “tedious tasks” rather than on raw creative ability. Where I once believed that my career was driven by creativity, I now understand that it is defined by years of learning and mastering creative tools. The prospect of these tools being replaced with easier, more accessible ones for “non-professionals” has left me feeling anxious about my future career. If no one needs their “10,000 hours” to be a videographer or photographer, my skills will not be required.
The fear I now face isn’t just about AI taking over tasks, it’s about what AI reveals about my limitations. If AI can replicate the skills I’ve spent years honing, where does that leave me? It’s a haunting thought that forces me to reevaluate my role in a world where creativity is no longer bound by the tools we use, but by the ideas we generate.
I have also realized that I enjoy the so-called “tedious tasks,” such as setting up a camera, adjusting lights, or reviewing hours of footage to find the perfect clip. It was the process, rather than the product, that I fell in love with early in my career. And now, the potential need to give all that up for speed and efficiency saddens me. I will be abandoning something that I genuinely enjoy doing. The challenge now is to embrace AI as a partner. AI has the potential to liberate me from the technical limitations of the craft, allowing me to focus on what truly matters: creativity and innovation. It’s an opportunity to push the boundaries of what’s possible, explore new ideas, and execute them in ways I never could. This potential for growth with AI is not a threat but a source of hope and inspiration for the future of my profession. This requires a difficult shift in mindset for me. I must move away from defining myself by my proficiency in tools and embrace my potential to think creatively and develop new and interesting ideas. I’m learning that the actual test of a creative professional in the age of AI isn’t how well they can use the tools, but how well they can leverage AI to bring their unique vision to life.
In conclusion, AI is not just a tool for automation; it’s a mirror reflecting my creative capabilities. It’s an invitation for me to step out of my comfort zone and redefine what it means to be creative. The future of my profession lies not in fearing AI, but in using it to amplify my creativity, to find new ways to innovate, and to create work that resonates on a deeper level. So here’s to the next “10,000 hours” rebuilding my creative skills.
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