Does AI Have a Place in Creative Work?
We’re all used to watching tech companies (and a concerning number of commencement speakers) go all in on AI as the “next revolution.” Even some of our mothers-in-law are using LLM chatbots to help them organize their schedules and think through their retirement options. But some people approach AI tools with more skepticism and reservation (if not outright hostility). The world’s creatives are one of those groups.
Hi. We’re the AI skeptics. It’s us.
We’ll admit it. As people who earn their living with ideas turned into concept sketches, turned into campaigns, the Green Loop team was slower to adopt AI tools. We were deeply skeptical, and still are, about AI’s ability to do creative work. But we also saw where it could facilitate certain types of work with significant time savings.
We’re already using tech tools to speed up work (hello, email, document signature services, and automated follow-ups); AI can be part of that toolbox. Over the course of the last year, as we talked about AI tools, we realized two things: first, AI tools are just that—tools, and second, we need clearly communicated expectations and standards if we’re going to use AI tools at Green Loop. That starts with clarity on our values and purpose as a company.
Our AI policy has non-negotiables.
Before we talk about anything else, let’s be clear about where we stand. Green Loop isn’t in the business of generating “creative” work using AI. This is a key non-negotiable for us. This isn’t likely to change even as AI technology evolves because we believe that nothing beats the magic of creative works born of human experiences, knowledge, and talent.
We also value consent in this process. It’s why we’re creating a policy and why we’re communicating openly with our clients. While we can’t guarantee that everything we do in a day is AI free (because have you met software lately???), our clients can opt out of intentional use by our team for things like proofreading and meeting notes management.
AI isn’t a straightforward term. What does it mean at Green Loop?
When most people hear “AI,” they likely think of ChatGPT. While ChatGPT is an example of a chatbot using artificial intelligence, there’s no single working definition everyone agrees on. There are also different flavors of AI tools in the form of generative and agentic models. But as even generative models begin to include agentic capabilities, it’s easy to understand why, to most people, it’s still just ChatGPT.
Right now, we’re talking about using chatbots like Claude.ai. Supported by large language models (LLMs), these tools create an astonishing amount of output in record time.
We’re also talking about all the ways AI is pushed on us. Like AI integrated into the software we (and probably you) use every day. Services like Google Workspace, Adobe, Canva, and Microsoft Office (not to mention the search engines). Some of these can be turned off as features, and others are baked in, leaving opting out of the software entirely as the only option to opt out of AI.
Where does AI work well in marketing?
While we’re committed to leaving AI out of generating the creative aspects of our work, Green Loop’s team finds AI helpful in other ways. By leveraging AI for efficient notetaking during meetings, proofreading documents, and organizing project scopes (among other administrative tasks), we’re reclaiming time for our most essential work: creativity. Even creative outputs have room for AI in the editing process. Computer-aided design isn’t new, and AI tools provide another avenue to support creatives in bringing their visions to life.
AI can serve as a tool for roleplaying different scenarios. Whether it’s addressing objections, uncovering patterns, or taking on different viewpoints, it’s a useful starting point to organize our thoughts before we reach out to team members to refine options.
Where AI doesn’t work well is when team members are new to an industry or topic. A key part of using AI well is being an expert in your own field. This helps avoid the all too common issue of AI hallucinating and confidently presenting its mistakes as facts (followed by you confidently presenting its mistakes as facts).
We’re thinking about privacy, security, and data protection.
Is there a balanced and safe way to use AI in a marketing agency? Yes. This is why we’re creating our own internal and client-facing documents for our AI utilization policy. With guardrails around the type of work eligible for AI support, understanding of how AI is utilized in the software we’re using, and being transparent with clients about our use (and asking them to be transparent about theirs), the right kind of work benefits from the efficiency AI tools create while preserving privacy, security, and data protection.
Our focus on privacy, security, and data protection means that a fair amount of the work we do isn’t eligible for AI tool support. In addition to leaving AI out of the loop when clients specifically request it, we also avoid AI tools when working with confidential data, personal information, and anything that would create copyright issues for our clients (that’s not the sort of creative work we’re all about).
The Green Loop promise.
We have to keep talking about the ethics of AI in advertising and marketing. For us, the value of creative work is in its humanity. Marketing and advertising are about emotional connections, and we’re already seeing cautionary tales emerging where companies tried to shortcut the process by using AI.
We’re curious to see the development and evolution of AI from the perspective of helping the people doing the work, not replacing them. When it comes to how we approach this with clients, it’s always through the lens of our values as a company: we’ll communicate our policy and its updates clearly, keep communication flowing both ways on the topic of AI tools, honor our clients’ needs and wishes regarding these tools, and lead with human creativity at the center of our work.
Melanie Allen
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO