By Joe Rogge,Chief Strategy Office
By Tim Merath,Chief Operations Officer
Balancing Innovation with Human Ingenuity at EPIC
At EPIC Creative, we embrace the potential of artificial intelligence as a powerful tool to enhance our creative process, not replace it. We view AI as a means to augment human creativity, providing inspiration, streamlining workflows, and unlocking new possibilities. Our approach integrates cutting-edge AI technologies with the irreplaceable human touch that defines truly impactful creative work. By leveraging AI responsibly and strategically, we aim to push the boundaries of innovation while ensuring that the heart of our creativity remains distinctly human. This synergy between artificial intelligence and human ingenuity allows us to deliver more dynamic, data-informed, and engaging solutions for our clients in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
That is what AI wanted us to start this blog with… Here’s what we actually wrote:
When talking about artificial intelligence (AI), most often we are met with an array of emotions—from fear to skepticism to hope to fanaticism. Given the seemingly unlimited capabilities of what AI can do, it seems fitting that perspectives on it can vary so greatly. It’s within this context that we navigate how, where, and why—or IF—we implement AI into our work.
We approach each potential use of AI within the framework of our internal policies. In short, these policies lean heavily into ensuring data integrity and privacy so we are not violating the trust or legal agreements we have with our clients but also the ethics of controlling our own intellectual property. When looking at a new tool or application of AI, we review all privacy and legal terms to ensure we meet our policy parameters as well as those set out by our clients. From there, it’s about knowing how to wield a tool to achieve the right results.
It’s leaning into the “right results” aspect that is important at this point. It might be easy to just let the AI model run wild and do all the work. However, it’s our human talents, perspectives, and interpretation of a lifetime of experience that AI cannot duplicate. Just as Photoshop can “do” just about anything, it’s the human who makes decisions when using the tool that leads to great work. What AI can provide is thought starters or pathways to creative solutions, sometimes more quickly and efficiently.
No matter how far AI takes us, we will always keep the principles of our humanity and our life experiences as the driver of what we ask the technology to do.
In our explorations of AI, we often experiment and try out new approaches with internal work. Whether it’s a creative endeavor or analyzing data, getting to know these models and programs is best done while playing in the “sandbox.” We have leveraged OpenAI, Claude, and various other programs to help us write code, conduct research, and provide data insights on our internal projects and initiatives. This play is instrumental in getting beyond a basic understanding and allows us to find the boundaries where either great things can happen or caution is needed.
We will continue to evolve our approach to AI as the technology and surrounding culture change and grow. Our policies will keep in tune with these changes as well as how our clients view the use of AI in the work we do for them. No matter how far AI takes us, we will always keep the principles of our humanity and our life experiences as the driver of what we ask the technology to do.
