Substack essay arguing AI labs need creative directors to steer public-facing design, culture, and ethics around models.
AI LABS NEED A CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Issue 147
Some companies treat model development as a purely technical problem. Others treat it like product engineering. Both approaches miss something important: the need for a creative director.
A creative director would sit at the intersection of people who build models and people who ship them. They'd have authority to shape user experience, messaging, and cultural framing; to demand better demos; to push back on misleading claims; and to orchestrate collaborations between artists, researchers, designers, and policymakers.
Why it matters
Without that role, models get released with sloppy interfaces, confusing marketing, and little thought about societal impact. The technical team optimizes benchmarks; product teams optimize metrics. A creative director optimizes meaning.
What they do
How to hire one
Look for people with taste, technical literacy, and institutional authority. They should be able to translate between researchers and executives and own the public narrative.
This isn't a silver bullet. But pairing engineering and research with creative leadership can help shape how society understands and uses AI.
