If asked to think about a colour and a tool, the majority of people will say “Red hammer”.

I have by now seen a hundred posts showing me how great picture making with AI is. A dozen “Look, ma, no Photoshop” posts. I am actually very happy for all the people who finally have an opportunity for creative expression. Go boldly, my artistically inclined but practically unskilled friends. I am looking forward to seeing the fruit of your imagination.

But the funny thing is, everything I see so far looks exactly the same. They are all “red hammer” images. I.e. these images fail the only job they have: to make a message remarkable and recognisable – at an instant, in a split second, seen even with a side eye. In the world where authenticity and originality it the only currency, this is a waste.

But to create something original and authentic, you actually need to know why you are doing whatever you are doing. What is that special thing that makes you, you know, _you_. And how that special thing you have makes someone else’s life better. And then you have to know how to express all of that in an artistic form that’s understandable for your customers AND different from all the others. You have to decline the first thoughts that feel good but are in fact those surface level “Red hammer” ideas that need to be discarded to give way to better ideas. (And then defend it in front of your boss who thinks that the benchmark for the consumer is their pal in finances.)

All of that is called a creative process, and it’s an intrinsically human process, because it stems from our physiology and psychology. And it takes place not just in advertising: anything that needs to be created, from a small app to a giant truck, from a sad song to a happy hotel experience, goes through multiple cycles of this process.

So if you want to have a “red hammer” solution because you actually need a red hammer right now – go get it. But if the goal is something that is NOT in fact a red hammer… you’ll still have to do the legwork. Think harder. Take time for empathy and feeling. Throw away a few perfectly decent ideas. Fight for your position. Because creating something truly, unmistakeably yours means resisting the comfort of the obvious. And that’s the difference between “generating content” and making something that makes an impact.