Imagination in the AI ​​Era (Huang Yueyong) – EJ Tech

This articleauthorHuang YueyongHe is an associate professor and senior consultant (entrepreneurship) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and writes a column for the Hong Kong Economic Journal titled “Kemeijin“.

It is very difficult to convey ideas to others in a physical form, so after the appearance of Mood Board, it immediately became a tool that many designers and architects like to use.

Mood Board literally translates into Chinese as “mood board”. In short, it visualizes the designer’s ideas and emotions to make his creative concepts easier to understand.

In fact, the application of mood board is not limited to professionals. Its puzzle-like disassembly and assembly functions can also be used for daily creative experiments.

Through Mood Board, users can transform abstract ideas into concrete images, and then get new ideas from the visualized materials, and think and solve problems from a new perspective. This logical organization method allows us to deepen our understanding of the topic and establish clear and specific goals during the organization process.

People who are familiar with me know that I am a “picture person” who looks at pictures more than reading words. For many years, I have relied on platforms such as Pinterest to organize a large amount of picture information. When I have time, I will check out what is new or recommended by users, and then pin it down for collection if I am interested. The collection topics are varied, including books from libraries in various countries, bestsellers from large and small bookstores, the latest car models or different variations of Gundam, etc. These collections can be used as hobbies and entertainment, and are also rich resources to inspire new ideas, allowing me to explore the colors, atmospheres and styles of different themes.

In addition to Pinterest, Unsplash and Envato Elements, which provide free photo gallery applications, are also my favorites. Users can browse various pictures and templates to build their creative projects or collect inspiration.

However, as life becomes increasingly busy, I recently found myself spending significantly less time on these photo collection activities. Although I don’t have as much time to collect inspiration as before, it doesn’t mean that my creativity has declined.

With the advent of the era of image creation driven by artificial intelligence (AI), people are no longer limited to collecting images, but can also use AI to create.

Tools such as OpenAI’s Image Generator, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion can create countless new visual effects in response to user requirements, perfectly matching the needs of different projects.

In the past year alone, I have used Midjourney to generate over 8,000 images, and the vast majority of them are high-quality, consistent, and easy to modify.

Many worry that AI will eventually replace traditional human creators, sparking debate about intellectual property and the future of creative work.

Indeed, when I attended a recent seminar in Europe, it was clear that the landscape of the creative industries is changing rapidly, reflecting that these concerns are legitimate. However, trying to resist this trend is futile.

Now, with the help of AI, the threshold for creation has been further lowered; regardless of artistic background, everyone can use AI to create visually striking works. It can be asserted that the market will change faster and bigger in the future.

Albert Einstein once said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Because knowledge is limited, while imagination encompasses everything in the world, promotes progress, and is the source of the evolution of knowledge.” In this era of rapid development of AI, people will soon discover that imagination is the biggest key to growth.

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