Creativity has long been thought of as being uniquely human, but that same human creativity and ingenuity is now giving rise to the world's first Creative Machines that are capable of creating content and innovating products.
Firstly, many thanks to Danielle and the Episerver team for asking me to be the keynote for all three of this year’s international Episerver summits, in Helsinki, London, and Utrecht, to share what the Future of Creativity and Content has in store for us all in the coming decades.
Founded in 1994 Episerver helps customers succeed in what they refer to as the Experience Age, and their content platforms are now managing over a trillion searches a year so, whether you know it or not, you’ve likely touched their platform in one way or another.
During my keynote I discussed the future of the content and creativity markets, which today employs over 235 million people and contributes over $6 Trillion to global GDP, and I showed the audiences the new breed of Artificial Intelligent (AI) powered Creative Machines that are already helping automate human creativity and innovation, as well as content creation.
See the keynote in full
From synthetic works of art and imagery, which are now selling at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars and that are good enough to rival traditional stock photography, through to the creation of synthetic music and video content so good that major record labels are signing and snapping up new “artists” like they’re going out of fashion already. I also shone a light on the role these same technologies are playing in generating infamous DeepFakes, that are increasingly blowing past uncanny valley, and then discussed how other forms of creative machines are helping speed up innovation by thousands fold and are being used to design everything from new aircraft parts and cars, through to fashion lines, furniture, sneakers, and even interplanetary rovers.
I then also discussed how these same technologies, as well as others, are helping democratise the creativity and content creation process for ordinary people, a trend that is only going to get louder in the years to come. For example, imagine one day being able to talk into your smartphone, describe what you want it to create, whether it’s a piece of content or a product, and having a creative machine generate it in real time for you. As you can see from the keynote reel it’s obvious that these machines will play a major role in helping unleash and revolutionise human creativity at global scale.
The content and creativity markets employ over 235 million people. Creative machines already help automate creativity, innovation and content creation. Our data puts wide use of creative machines at 2028, so teams should prepare now.
Synthetic media is already commercial.
Synthetic art sells at auction and rivals stock photography. Major record labels are signing synthetic artists. Our data puts wide use of synthetic content at 2026 and marks it as act now, so publishers and brands cannot wait.
Trust and access are both changing.
DeepFakes are getting past the uncanny valley, which raises the cost of proving what is real. At the same time, ordinary people may soon describe a product or piece of content to a smartphone and have it made in real time. Digital humans and virtual influencers add another front, with wide use in our data at 2035.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
Which of our content tasks could a creative machine already do?
How would we prove our content is authentic and trusted?
Who in our firm owns the plan for synthetic media?
The trends and technologies behind this session
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Creative and content work is becoming a place where machines compete with people on speed and cost. Organisations should decide where machine-made work fits, where human work still matters, and how they will protect trust.
How does synthetic content relate to this keynote?
It is the core theme. Synthetic images, music and video are already selling and signing deals. Our data marks synthetic content as act now, with wide use by 2026.
How do creative machines relate to this keynote?
They cover both content and product design, from aircraft parts and cars to fashion, furniture and sneakers. Our data marks creative machines as prepare, with wide use by 2028.
How can 311 brief our leadership team on this?
311 offers a private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector, in person first.
Bring this to your leadership teamA private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector. In person first, anywhere in the world.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s session and 311 data.
If Matthew gave this session today
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