Technology & Creativity

QUESTION

Joey, how does the evolution of technology play into the practice of creativity? And how do you distinguish the hype from the realistic application?

—Alaina

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ANSWER

Alaina, this is one of my favorite subjects. Despite founding an analog product company, I’m a massive technology enthusiast. Technology is simply the cutting edge expression of creativity.

Before we begin, it’s important to remember that everything, at one point, was considered new technology.

For example, I used a toaster this morning to make my breakfast. We wouldn’t call that high tech today, but when General Electric released their first toaster in 1909, it was a revolutionary product.

The Law of Connection* states: Base concepts can neither be created nor destroyed, they simply merge to form new combinations. Creativity is not about creating—it is about combining.

When an innovation occurs in any industry, it allows new combinations, thus paving the way for a host of fresh creative expressions to be birthed. For instance, when the actress-inventor Hedy Lamar invented frequency-hopping to help torpedoos hit their mark in World War II, she had no idea her method would later contribute to WiFi internet as we now know it.

Right now, two incredible technologies are on the cusp of blooming:

1. Artificial Intelligence
   
   Thanks to innovations in large language models, the first truly impressive AI was shared with the public in November 2021: ChatGPT. People around the world are using GPT to generate blog posts, birthday gift ideas, entire articles, full-scale books, and more. Many are lamenting its creation as a harbinger of doom ("What will writers do!?"), but that’s similar to what people said when the electronic calculator was introduced in the 1960’s. Life goes on.
    

2. Virtual & Augmented Reality
   
   With the rumored release of Apple’s mixed reality headset, again folks are making fun of the product like they originally did with the iPad ("It’s just a big iPhone!"). The truth is, most people can’t see past their noses. The advent of mainstream AR/VR will have as big an impact on the world as the internet did. Screens will be old technology to the next generation ("You mean your TV was physical? And it didn’t go away when you stopped using it?") Social and Work activities will be entirely different a decade from now; you’ll be able to spend time with distant loved ones as if you were in the same home, and you’ll be able to work from anywhere and still have face-to-face meetings. Even now, I exercise in VR and it’s transformed my at-home routine.
   

With technology, I’ve found the best way to separate the hype from reality is to not pay attention to the hype at all.

Stay in your lane, form your own thoughts about new developments, and be open-minded. Even when a new technology fails to catch on, that doesn’t mean it’s dead. It may have been presented too early, or find its way to another application that proves its success.

—Joey Cofone

Creator of Baronfig
Author of The Laws of Creativity

*Learn more about the law of connection in chapter 3 of The Laws of Creativity.

A concept mockup by Antonio De Rosa of how the Apple mixed reality headset might look. I’m incredibly excited for how this product category can potentially change our lives.