CANNES, FRANCE — New age guru and alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra shared his unique insights into creativity and AI’s impact on the creative process at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. In a talk co-presented with the founder and CEO of global neuromarketing and neuroanalytics resource Neuro-Insights, Pranav Yadav, Deepak detailed what he calls the “Nine Steps to Creativity” before providing his outlook on how they may benefit from AI.
According to Deepak, the creative process unfolds thusly:
1. Realizing your intended outcome
In any creative endeavor, we need to start by clarifying the purpose of said endeavor. By understanding what it really is that we want to achieve or create, we begin our work on a solid foundation.
2. Information gathering
Once we know what we want to achieve, we need to collect data on previous attempts toward that same goal, risk factors, opportunities, and more.
3. Analysis
Data is just the start. We need to understand the whys of that data to better inform our next steps.
4. Incubation
At this stage, we let our ideas sit and grow on their own. By dedicating time purely just for the generation of ideas and possibilities, we discover viable paths foward.
5. Insight
Synthesizing all the previous stages will eventually lead to that “Eureka!” moment all creatives are working towards.
6. Inspiration
If insight is the spark of creativity, inspiration is the fuel it ignites, powering our creative engines in the process. From that single breakthrough moment, we find sources of inspiration to propel us further.
7. Implementation
Finally, we put those ideas into action. Much of creativity comes from the act of doing, so it’s imperative that we make an effort to consistently bring our ideas to life.
8. Incarnation
And when those ideas become living, breathing outcomes, it’s always a good idea to sit back and witness what you’ve created. Not only does this allow you to experience the joy of creating something, it also affords you the time and energy to reflect on the work.
9. Resurrection
From there, we iterate and reiterate our ideas until we’ve created the final, most satisfactory version of our work. And once we’ve achieved that, it’s time to begin anew with another project.
After relaying a story on how his creativity was fostered through bedtime stories with his mother, Deepak underscored how the creative process is powered by collective imagination, diversity, and access to vast amounts of knowledge and wisdom. AI, he believes, has the potential to give the human mind access to all three at a scale never experienced before.
Calling the technology a “personal guru,” “research assistant,” and “incarnation of wisdom” in one, through it, we gain access to “all wisdom throughout the ages.”
