Art Thinking: creating desirable futures in the AI era

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the differences between Design Thinking and Art Thinking, and how art can be used creatively in business to achieve disruptive results. It provides examples of how artists are collaborating with tech companies like OpenAI and how the Airbnb business model was influenced by an artist's approach. The article also touches on the impact of technology like Waze and Google Maps on traditional skills, and how artists can use technology to question and transform reality.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Design Thinking vs. Art Thinking

1. What are the key differences between Design Thinking and Art Thinking?

• Design Thinking is focused on creating efficient and practical solutions with the user at the center, while Art Thinking is more about creative exploration and disruptive innovation, valuing the subjectivity of the artist and ambiguity.
• Design Thinking aims to build Creative Solutions, while Art Thinking focuses on Creative Questions.
• Design Thinking is about solving problems, while Art Thinking is more about investigating possibilities to understand if the right problem is being addressed.

2. How are major companies embracing artists within their teams?

• Companies like Google, Autodesk, and Microsoft have welcomed artists within their teams, such as OpenAI welcoming artist Alex Reben to study the role of humans in an increasingly machine-dominated world.
• Artists are testing and contributing to the development of innovative products like GPT and the image generator DALL-E, leading to intriguing collaborations that push creativity to new heights.

[02] The Impact of Art in Business

1. How did the Airbnb business model demonstrate the influence of artistic thinking?

• Airbnb's CEO and co-founder, Brian Chesky, who holds a Fine Arts degree, applied his artistic skills brilliantly in the company's early projects and completely reshaped the rules of the business game.
• The Airbnb business model revolutionized traditional hospitality by allowing ordinary people to rent out spaces in their own homes to travelers, creating a shared economy and redefining how people can monetize their existing properties.
• Airbnb has meticulously designed every aspect of the user experience, from website navigation to interactions with hosts and the atmosphere of the rented spaces, similar to how an artist takes care of every detail of the experience their artwork will provide.

2. How has Airbnb's impact been comparable to that of a powerful work of art?

• Airbnb has not only changed how people travel but has also deeply impacted communities, local economies, and even housing regulations, similar to how a powerful work of art can challenge and transform perspectives.
• Just like art, which never settles for the status quo, Airbnb continues to innovate and expand its business model, staying ahead in the tourism and hospitality industry.

[03] The Transformation of Traditional Skills

1. How did the emergence of Waze and Google Maps impact traditional skills like memorizing street names and routes?

• With the emergence of Waze and Google Maps, we no longer need to memorize street names or routes, as we become co-creators by interacting with these tools and are rewarded with the best route guidance to avoid traffic.
• This transformation is similar to what some graphic designers felt when using Midjourney for the first time, or when some people realized that ChatGPT could be part of their work.

2. How did an artist, Simon Weckert, use technology to question and transform reality?

• Simon Weckert placed 99 smartphones connected to Google Maps in a handcart and walked through the streets of Berlin, causing the map to show a major traffic jam where, in reality, there was no one.
• This action demonstrated that questioning reality is an inherent human skill, and it becomes even more evident in artistic thinking, as it can be used to create, transform, and impact society in innovative and meaningful ways.

3. How was Google Maps itself inspired by a group of artists in Berlin in the 1990s?

• The group of artists in Berlin in the 1990s created TerraVision, a virtual view of the Earth that proposed using geolocation long before it became an everyday tool, and even suggested that airlines use this technology so passengers could track their flights in real-time, an idea dismissed at the time as impossible but now a reality.