What We Do Is Hard

What we do is art and commerce.

It’s not a straight line. It’s a tightrope—walked with rigour, stubbornness, and just enough panache to not look like you’re trying too hard.

Naively—maybe idiotically—I’m not threatened by AI.

The headlines are filled with despair, gloom, and doom.

“Our jobs are on the line.”

“Creativity is being commoditised.”

“The machines are coming for us.”

I don’t dismiss it. I just refuse to panic.

Because here’s the thing: what we do is hard.

It’s subjective. It’s maddening. It requires conviction. And a little psychosis.

It’s late nights chasing the joke that hasn’t landed yet.

It’s the hundredth “No” before the one “Yes.”

It’s fighting for the fragile idea until it’s bulletproof.

It’s knowing when to be hard on the work but kind on the people.

If AI can do all that, I’ll be the first to buy it a drink.

I’ve seen and grown up on things that had no formula—SNL sketches that should have bombed but killed.

Campaigns for Nike that walked the line between inspiration and provocation.

Weird, beautiful one-liners that sounded like Jack Handey–maybe it was Jack Handey?–but sold a million units.

The Office.

I look at AI like feedback. It’s not always right. We don’t blindly follow it. Our gut–our intuition–plays a critical role in determining how we interpret and apply it.

Just imagine if AI had a say in, “Schweddy Balls.”

This job is part craft, part obsession, part magic trick.

The craft can be studied. The obsession can be trained.

But the magic? The magic is the irrational belief that this ridiculous idea—this thing you can’t fully explain—is worth making real.

AI will get better. No doubt.

It will help us. No doubt.

But what I refuse to believe is that it can replace the deeply human mix of insecurity, ego, humour, stubbornness, fear, joy, and occasional delusion that fuels great creative work.

My approach is simple:

* Be relentless about the work.

* Be generous with the people.

* Protect the magic at all costs.

Because the day we stop believing in the hard, messy, maddening parts of creativity, it won’t be AI that replaces us. We’ll have done it ourselves.

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