In the book Blank Space by W. David Marx, the author describes how commerce is now held in the same regard as creativity. He laments that a stage once walked on by Eddie Vedder (a moment described as ‘selling out’) now hosts the CEO of Goldman Sachs doing a DJ set. We live in a world where that isn’t weird. We just accept that this is normal behavior, that a man deserves to be playing a festival alongside dozens of talented auteurs and artists just because he is wealthy.

I use “we” here as the unsurprised. The bystanders to this happening. The people who laugh it off, share it on Instagram and TikTok anyway without being outraged. It’s absurd.

Our reality is one where people get famous for saying something viral on a TikTok video, end up with a podcast, scam people with a memecoin, and then disappear. People’s brains have been irreparably damaged by being chronically online and addicted to this turbo-charged dopamine loop.

So it’s not surprising that in 2025 it feels like we are just accepting the – sometimes irresponsible – eruption of AI. Not enough people are outraged that their friends, family, and colleagues are being tricked by generative AI. At least once a day I see a video that is clearly fake that people think is real. AI capability has moved far beyond the spaghetti test, and people aren’t catching on – they simply can’t believe they’re being duped.

I see my peers in design and art agonizing over our AI-driven world and I get it.

But I have optimism about our future. We’re seeing the technology plateau and we’re beginning to understand the true uses and benefits of AI as another tool that can be used in brilliant ways. But we’re also learning that artificial intelligence cannot be creative. The output is what AI thinks creativity look like; a facsimile of real and not in itself innovative.

An Optimistic Prediction

I’m excited that we’re about to see something emerge that wouldn’t happen without generative AI. A future not led by our fearless Lords of Industry & Commerce, but one spearheaded by the artists, designers, musicians, and filmmakers of the world who react to new technologies by moving in the opposite direction.

The abundance and homogenization of artificial intelligence will create an explosion of new and exciting creative movements. The new modernism, cubism, de stijl, bauhaus, and expressionism… Movements that would not exist were it not for rejection of the norm. We wouldn’t know the names Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe, or Yayoi Kusama if it wasn’t for their unstoppable desire to embody the avant garde and do something different, surreal, abstract, and minimalist.

We’re going to see a surge of ‘not AI’ artists and products. We’re going to experience art, music, and products intentionally marketed as human-first and human-driven. A move towards textures, shapes, and forms in spaces that cannot be occupied by anything but the physically and unapologetically organic. It will live alongside work created by generative AI for sure. But I know what I’d rather spend my time looking at.

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A Disclaimer I’d Feel Bad Not Writing

I do feel like I should end this post with a disclaimer that I use AI. I don’t use it to create art, photos, or music, or use ChatGPT in lieu of just asking somebody a question, but I do paste an excel formula into Claude to save me 2 hours of scouring StackOverflow. I think as another tool it is helpful, and I have my internal decision tree to help me choose to use or eschew it. One thing you’ll never see me do though? Share the output.