The Competitive Advantage of Human Creativity

Summary

In this article, you will learn:

• The limits of generative AI (at least for now)

• How human creativity is unique (at least for now)

• 5 tips for balancing the creative power of humans and machines

Reading time: 3 minutes 43 seconds.

When Perfection Just Isn’t Enough

In grandmaster-level chess, draws occur about 50% of the time.

Among the elite, it’s 70%.

This is because the players are highly skilled, rarely make mistakes, and are often content to draw a game rather than risk losing.

Well, in the autumn of 2021, the top chess player, Magnus Carlsen, faced off against the challenger, Ian Nepomniachtchi, in a 14-game match to determine the World Champion.

Unsurprisingly, game #1 ended in a draw.

Game #2, draw.

Game #3, another draw. But this one was different.

According to the most powerful chess software on earth, capable of calculating ~120 million positions per second, Magnus and Ian played the most accurate game in world chess championship history.

At the post-game press conference, a journalist asked the players how it felt to have accomplished such a feat.

Magnus smirked, thanked the journalist, and said:

The Paradox of Precision

Despite choosing moves that the strongest chess engine would have selected, Magnus only drew the game. Is this what a perfect game really looks like?

I’ve watched chess supercomputers play against each other, so you don’t have to. It’s boring and filled with draws. Hard pass.

Magnus is considered by many to be the best chess player to have ever played the game, and his statistical and competitive accomplishments are only part of it.

He treats the game as art and hunts for creative improvements to positions that, to most players and chess engines, would be comfortable draws.

Human creativity is courageous.

Human creativity takes risks.

Human creativity is the difference maker.

The most electric moments of competition, whether in sports or business, feature creative deviations from a supposedly optimal path.

Human creativity surprises and delights us. As the audience, we sense the bravery and beauty within its imperfections, often subconsciously, and we gravitate toward its audacity and authenticity.

We notice the genuine humanity in songs recorded without a click-track that keeps every beat in perfect position. It’s why live music makes us feel connected, like we’re accessing something singular and magical.

Consider that if two competing businesses rely on equally powerful AI to make their strategic decisions, all other things being equal, they will neutralize each other like fire and water.

If you only deduce your way through your strategy, you’ll end up with a perfect result that looks like all of your competition.

How will you stand out? How will you out-compete when everybody uses the same data and tools, creating the same “perfect” solutions?

Human creativity can challenge logic and deviate in ways that just might work if given a chance.

Human creativity separates the great from the good.

(For now.)

Lessons from Across the Board

It is inevitable that AI will reliably replicate humans’ ability to take risks and even exceed our own creativity.

But even when this occurs, do we really want to live in a world where the bulk of human creativity is outsourced to digital computation?

I’ll bet that we won’t. The impulse and need to create are as fundamental to humans as breathing. It’s also fun and nourishes the soul.

So if machines will dominate and humans won’t let go of creativity, where do we go from there?

Balance.

We will have to find the right balance of creative power between humans and machines. Who does what, why, when, and how?

There will be a learning curve, but from a business perspective, these 5 points will help get you started:

1. Recognize the limitations of AI: While AI may be capable of achieving near-perfect performance within defined parameters, invest in human creativity, intuition, and adaptability for innovation and finding unconventional solutions.
   

2. Embrace the strengths of AI: AI is a game-changer for businesses. It can process vast amounts of data, identify patterns, and help make data-driven decisions. AI excels at tasks that require speed, accuracy, and processing large volumes of information. Leverage it accordingly.
   

3. Value human creativity and strategic thinking: AI is great at crunching numbers, but for now, humans are the ones who will dream up the big ideas. That's why businesses need to foster creativity and innovation in their teams. Encourage original thinking, exploration, and imaginative problem-solving.
   

4. Balance risk and reward: Strategic decision-making involves weighing potential risks against the potential rewards. Companies must embrace calculated risks and experiment with new ideas to seize opportunities, disrupt markets, and gain a competitive edge. In the near-medium term, human creativity may hold the keys here.

5. Encourage collaboration between humans and AI: Successful organizations recognize the value of combining human ingenuity with AI-powered tools in business. Former world champion Garry Kasparov said it best: “AI can help grandmasters to see things that they would not be able to see otherwise … it can help grandmasters to understand the game at a deeper level.” The same goes for business and product strategists.

Check, mate.

Smart leaders know that creativity can make all the difference in the performance of their teams to achieve organizational goals.

Those who continue to invest in human creativity will gain not only from the inspiration, insights, and ideas that can only come from the organic brains of humans but also from the ingenuity that people apply to harness the power of new and powerful digital technology.

Thanks for reading.

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