Staying creative in an automated world can be challenging.
Scrolling LinkedIn, reading a tech blog, or sitting in a marketing meeting, it’s hard not to go a day without the same buzzword reverberating against the walls: automation.
It transforms everything. From how content is distributed to its very own creation.
But here’s the real question for creatives, marketers, and brands:
In a world where automation is everywhere, how do you stay truly creative?
It’s interesting to see how AI can sometimes spark unexpected ideas or reveal new creative directions that weren’t obvious before.
At JAM, where creativity sits at the heart of both content production and adaptation, we believe the answer isn’t to fight automation, but to reclaim human creativity.
Here’s how we’re doing it, and how any brand or creator can, too. In this article, we’ll share examples of how brands and creators can stay creative in an automated world.
Embrace the Tools To Free Up Cognitive Load
Automation is not the enemy of creativity. Instead, when used correctly, it can become your greatest ally.
At Jam, we use automation to:
- Speed up low-value tasks (such as resizing, content tagging, and reporting).
- Streamline workflows (like versioning deliverables across platforms), using a platform to automate the process and maintain brand consistency across different advertising channels.
- Free up time for our creative teams to focus on idea generation, storytelling, and concepts.
John Sweller developed the cognitive load theory, which explains how our working memory is actually quite limited. We can only process so much at once. Automation allows us to free up some space on low-value thinking, so we can focus on the good stuff.
Now, we can focus on ideation and creative processes, but our creative automation enables real-time updates and even optimises advertising for brands, so we can make immediate adjustments and improve efficiency. It’s not replacing the creative, but rather optimising based on data.
So, instead of using automation to replace creativity, we’re using it to protect it. To free up time, energy and cognitive load to spend more time on what matters.
We Prioritise Ideas, Not Just Outputs
But real value comes from fresh thinking, not just high-volume output.
At JAM, we prioritise:
- Creative sprints to generate bold ideas before any production begins.
- Concept-first approaches, even when timelines are tight.
- Regular inspiration sessions across teams to keep the creative energy alive.
As AI becomes more integrated into creative workflows, teams should expect to see new tools that support ideation, project management, and collaboration, rather than replace the need for original thinking.
We figured out pretty early on that outputs can be automated: ideas cannot. The human drive to invent new concepts and push boundaries remains essential, even as automation handles more of the routine work.
Navigating the Creative Industry in the Age of AI
We know brands that are using artificial intelligence are at the forefront of the creative industry. Because they’re not using it to be creative, they’re using it to speed up all the time-consuming processes that get in the way of creativity.
As AI tools and generative tech get more advanced, we’re met with more opportunities.
The conversation has moved away from, “Will AI shake things up?” Now, we’re all asking how we can use these new tools to enhance our creative output while keeping human authenticity at the precipice.
Embracing AI solutions is already the norm in the creative industry. From streamlining project management solutions to making client interactions more seamless, AI integration is helping businesses and agencies work better together.
Creative automation platforms are now combining music, images, and even entire campaigns, freeing up our teams to focus on the high-level creative thinking that really sells the brand.
All that manual work that used to eat up hours of our day is now automated. So we can focus on ideation, storytelling, and strategic direction.
Because that’s the stuff that matters.
But This Is Where AI Becomes More Challenging: The AI Generated Creative
But here’s where people get it wrong. And, it turns your audience away and straight into the arms of your competitors.
The widespread adoption of AI-generated content.
As generative AI churns out content, we’re all left wondering where the IP is, and whether human-made art is still of value.
The real challenge is bringing nuance, emotion, cultural relevance and keeping that at the heart of what is created. Not just asking GPT to create a quick graphic for social media.
Companies Are Adopting Automation In Different Ways
Different companies are evolving to integrate AI at their own pace. Some businesses are going all in on all these AI tools, using them to create high-quality content efficiently and stay ahead in a competitive market.
Others are being a bit more cautious, experimenting to see what works and what fits in, exploring the different benefits of AI and automation in content.
But regardless of where anyone stands, one thing’s clear: the future of our creative industry will be shaped by how well we balance automation’s power with human creativity.
The Key To Staying Creative Is To Bring Humanity Into Every Story
Automation can mimic patterns. AI can replicate styles. ChatGPT can regurgitate content from across the internet.
But empathy and intuition?
Those remain deeply human. Understanding culture is also essential for meaningful creative work, as it shapes the context, identity, and emotional nuance that resonate with audiences.
That’s why when we create branded content at JAM, we put our focus on:
- authentic talent and genuine storytelling.
- stories rooted in real needs, dreams, and challenges.
- emotional engagement, not just surface-level clicks. Artists are uniquely positioned to bring emotional depth and perspective to stories, in contrast to what AI can achieve.
The creative experience isn’t always about how fast you can be. But being true to your audience and showing up as your authentic self—using the power of words to convey emotion and meaning that AI-generated content may lack.
We Stay Curious & Experimental In Creating Content
Creativity is about out-of-the-box thinking. The kind of thinking that goes beyond the known and into the dark void of the unknown. That’s where true creativity lies. Where those golden nuggets of ideation lie in our palms.
And across every team, we’ve ensured we experiment just as much as we use tried-and-tested methods.
Each team:
- Tests new formats (interactive video, AR content, user-generated campaigns).
- Plays with emerging tech (like AI-assisted writing or dynamic content personalisation).
- Builds room for creative risks, even on fast-moving projects.
Many industries, including gaming, hospitality, media, publishing, and telecom, are adopting creative automation tools to improve workflows, increase output, and enhance marketing strategies.
Sharing knowledge across teams and industries fuels creative experimentation and helps us learn from both successes and failures. And this kind of creative experimentation is the key to staying ahead of the market. To avoid producing reactive content and instead become leaders in the brand’s industry.
That’s why we use a wide range of creative automation from content translation and marketing workflow support,to helping teams experiment and innovate more effectively.
But it’s also why our clients come to us.
We’re small. We’re agile. We experiment.
So In a World Full of Machines, Be Human
Automation is here to stay. Working with those tools and bringing them into your workflow will make you more efficient.
However, as AI becomes more integrated into creative industries, it can impact the money earned by creative professionals by lowering production costs and increasing competition, which may threaten the economic value of human-created work.
But creativity – authentic creativity – will always be grounded in human connection.
At JAM, that’s our goal: using technology to strengthen creativity, not replace it.
Because whilst algorithms are constantly changing, humans stay consistent.
The value of human creativity exists alongside AI-generated content; the presence of one does not diminish the originality or worth of the other.
We crave stories. And stories are human.
