AI – WHO’S IN THE DRIVING SEAT?
[Reading time: 5 minutes]
AI is bringing benefits to creative businesses, particularly in efficiencies that allow more time for core activities. But there is growing scepticism about long-term competitive advantages, productivity and strategic gains. The game-changing opportunities come from asking the right question.
This Rethink Creative series looks at AI implementations in creative business and policy. This first part looks at how businesses have embraced efficiency savings. There have been significant time savings but the long-term benefits in terms of productivity and competitiveness are open to question. And there could be serious implications for industry entrants.
CHALLENGE
Artificial Intelligence has made inroads across the Creative Sector, both in terms of business efficiency and increasingly in creative production, but generally without clear strategic direction.
This article focuses on productivity tools.
Consultancy giant McKinsey, in its 2025 report Seizing the agentic AI advantage, notes that AI is so far mostly focused on what it calls ‘horizontal’ applications, making savings and increasing the efficiency of existing business functions.
The most common of these applications are Chatbots and Copilot tools. Rethink Creative interviews suggest Creative Sector companies are using these tools for a wide range of tasks in areas such as marketing, press releases, application writing, translation, and research.
Among efficiency applications in wide use among businesses in Rethink Creative workshops are Microsoft Copilot, Claude (Anthropic), Chat GPT, Otter, Fireflies, GitHub and Perplexity AI.
Many of the small-and-medium-sized independent companies that make up most of the sector, have found AI assistants free up time to spend on more business-critical creative work. In a small number of cases, entrepreneurs and content creators have established a foothold in the sector with minimal staff costs and low overheads.
The growing question for businesses, for policy-makers and those looking to support AI growth in the Creative Sector is whether developments can deliver long-term, sustainable value.
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CONTEXT
The Creative Sector is overwhelmingly made up of small and medium-sized companies but Research Creative workshops and interviews have found most are comfortably integrating at least some AI tools into their operations.
Savings are often made by reducing spending on buying in external services and freelance skills, rather than cutting core teams. That may change over time but for now AI’s biggest impact is on what is fast becoming a creative Gig Economy.
The speed of the AI advance has been helped by the fact that, unlike so much previous disruptive digital change, users do not need to acquire specialist coding skills. Indeed some coding may soon be obsolete as AI becomes more self-sustaining.
Tools can be easily integrated into existing processes and can feel highly intuitive (a surprising number of businesses ascribe a human name to their AI assistant.)
These early implementations are creating efficiencies but the effect on long-term productivity and competitive advantage are open to question.
As MIT Sloan Management Review notes:
“Every serious technical advance ultimately becomes equally accessible to every company. Personal computers, the internet, semiconductor fabs, blockchain technology, genetic sequencing — these technologies are no longer competitive advantages for any organisation.“
McKinsey suggests AI will come into its own when these applications acquire more autonomous agency, able to be much more engaged in the creative process.
CONSEQUENCES
The evolution of AI remains unclear.
AI is still at an early stage in its uncertain evolution. In the short-term, it will follow the same hype curve as every previous digital trend – over-excitement, followed by irrational disappointment before finding their level. In the first few months of 2026, many of the applications of generative AI have already entered the disappointment phase, heading towards whatIT consultant Gartner calls the ‘trough of disillusionment’.
AI has the potential to break the mould of digital developments. In theory, machines achieve a degree of autonomy but the consequences are not clear even to the AI pioneers who have led developments.
The Rethink Creative approach begins with interrogating thinking on the benefits of AI. Are we looking at the right measurements of success?
Dr Kristina Khutsishvili, a member of the Cambridge University AI@Cam initiative, makes a compelling argument that AI value should not be calculated according to traditional minutes saved productivity measures.
“Measuring AI-mediated productivity gains simply by time saved misses the main feature of a technological breakthrough. Public value may include the aspects that are not commonly or easily measured in connection to AI – increase in trust, legitimacy, better wellbeing and better services.”
It is important not to be too prescriptive in measuring value in a rapidly evolving world. But a strong starting point in AI policy and practice around productivity in the Creative Sector is understanding our own evaluation processes.
What matters now and for the future is that creative businesses and policy-makers ask questions, creating a culture of rigorous self assessment, which is where Rethink Creative can make a serious contribution.
The future of AI will be about an adaptable and agile change mindset.
