Fail Faster
The AI revolution is changing the way we create, iterate, and refine our ideas. I've been using it to develop a tabletop miniature wargame, a field that's outside my core competency.
With Chat GPT’s ability to simulate dice rolling, math, and to-hit percentages, I can experiment with game mechanics and create multiple versions of rules in a matter of hours. This high-velocity iteration enables me to fail faster and make discoveries, ultimately getting what I want in days vs. weeks or months.
It's not just wargames. Concept artists I work with are using AI tools to create initial versions of their pieces. This lets them present the initial concepts to clients in a fraction of the time. Instead of spending weeks on detailed work that might get scrapped, they can quickly generate 20 different styles, enabling the client to zero in on preferences. With this approach, artists can be guided to the "good stuff" much sooner.
AI is helping many disciplines work more efficiently. In addition to game development and concept art, here are some other examples:
Writing and Story Development: AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude can brainstorm initial ideas, allowing writers to explore new concepts without extensive time investment. This speeds up the ideation process and helps writers identify what they like. For example, a novelist can riff with AI to generate multiple plot outlines, character descriptions, or even entire chapters and then do their pass on the most promising versions.
Music Composition: AI-driven software can create pieces based on user inputs, helping musicians experiment with different styles and melodies. This "fail fast" approach can lead to innovative outcomes. A composer can feed an AI tool with a few bars of a melody and quickly hear how it sounds in various genres, classical to electronic, sparking new creative directions.
Design and Architecture: Architects can use AI to generate 3D models and layouts quickly, enabling them to explore various options without mega man-hours of manual labor. This saves time and resources while empowering creativity. The designer of a new office building can use AI to generate multiple floor plans and facades, taking inspiration from each.
Product Design: AI can be used to quickly prototype and test different designs, materials, and features. With faster iteration, designers can identify potential issues and refine their work more efficiently. This approach can lead to more user-friendly and innovative products in record time.
Marketing and Advertising: Flacks can use AI to generate and test various ad copy, images, and targeting strategies. By quickly experimenting with different combos, they can identify the “algorithmically-hypothetically” most effective approaches and optimize their campaigns for effective results.
AI takes the heavy lifting out of the early stages of a project, giving creators the freedom to spend more time brainstorming, exploring, and iterating ideas with less risk of overspending time and attention, preemptively draining our creative reservoir. Now, we have more time to focus on the aspects of our craft that require a human touch.
Incorporating AI into your creative pipeline is not about eliminating failure but enabling and embracing it as one of the most critical parts of making new stuff. By quickly testing, refining, and evolving our ideas, we’re handing over the work to the machines but empowering ourselves, providing more room to experiment and more time to apply our uniquely human touch.
