Art Directors Club 2023 highlights AI and creativity

Dörte Spengler-Ahrens, President of the Art Directors Club, will open the festival officially on June 15 and stressed: "Our motto ‘Change the world with creativity... or should we leave it to AI?’ shows that ADC is concerned both with the importance of creativity in brand and product communication and as the origin of everything new. Creativity is the problem solver for the challenges of our time in business, science and society. And AI fuels this power." This year’s conference features all kinds of keynotes, interviews and panels with over 20 international speakers and artist Jonathan Meese will perform his "Gesamtkunstwerk KI". Other speakers include Smudo, frontman of Fanta Vier, who asks whether AI applications are the musicians and bands of the future. Aaron Starkman, Global CCO Rethink, and George Strakhov, Creative Director of Uncreative Agency, the "world's first fully automated creative agency", will also give a keynote on AI. Celebrity photographer, Rainer Hosch, outlines why photographers will not be able to manage without non-fungible tokens in future. Aporva Baxi and Simon Dixon, founder of Dixon Baxi, share their visions of the future and discuss how AI can help shape a better world.

Festival highlights include the Talent Award Show on June 15 for the best up-and-coming creatives and the Award Show on June 16 during which the winners of the ADC competition in 30 disciplines, including the Grand Prix, will be announced. Corinna Falusi, Chief Creative Officer is chair of the ADC competition and "Adweek Creative 100" while Dora Osinde, Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy Germany is chair of the ADC Talent Competition. The Open Club on June 15 features an exhibition, speed hiring and provides insights from e.g., IBM iX, Wall Decaux, Tiktok and Republic and gives delegates an opportunity to network at the same time.

Scholz & Friends have taken the 2023 festival theme literally and used the text-image tool AI Midjourney to visually implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The agency shows how AI envisions climate protection, fighting famine and shaping diversity, which is frighteningly dystopian. "It's meant to be a wake-up call and an impetus for discussion about the use of AI," says Arno Lindemann, Creative Partner at Scholz & Friends. "I see it as a new, exciting tool that can and will make many things faster and easier. But it's not a scary replacement for us creative minds." Dr Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media, commented: "Artificial intelligence can only be as intelligent as the creative minds behind it. Nevertheless, it will change and enrich our lives. To do so, we need creatives who use the possibilities of AI profitably, but who are also always willing to think things through in a new way. Authentic, forward-looking innovation needs something created by real people and not generically generated."

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