Great ideas don't come from averages
Brian Eno about Gen AI: “What you spend nearly all your time doing is in trying to stop the system from becoming mind-numbingly mediocre.” This quote perfectly encapsulates the challenge with LLM-based tools, like ChatGPT. These systems are designed to predict the next most likely word, phrase, or idea. In doing so, they tend to the mean, the average, the safe. They excel at replicating the norm, but great ideas? You won’t find them in the middle of the bell curve. Take a moment to think about the most memorable creative ideas you’ve encountered. Whether it’s Metro Trains Melbourne’s Dumb Ways to Die, Always’ Like a Girl, or even series like Succession—none of these came from playing it safe. They didn’t emerge from the obvious or the predictable. They were bold, unexpected, and, at times, even uncomfortable. At Seenapse, we built the Divergence Engine precisely to escape this gravitational pull toward mediocrity. Unlike LLMs, our approach doesn’t focus on the obvious, the linear, or the popular. Instead, it thrives in the unexpected, the non-linear, and the unconventional. It connects dots that don’t seem to belong together—until they do. Here’s an example: Imagine you’re brainstorming for a campaign about sustainability. An LLM might give you ideas like “reduce, reuse, recycle” or “save the planet,” because those are the most common associations. They’re fine, but they’re also quite obvious. Seenapse, on the other hand, might connect sustainability to something like ancient myths about balance in nature or the lifecycle of a phoenix. Suddenly, you’re exploring ideas that are richer, more layered, and with a lot more potential. Why does this matter? Because creativity isn’t about finding the most probable answer; it’s about uncovering the surprising ones. It’s about creating something that makes people pause, think, and feel. In the age of AI, the role of a creative director is about pushing boundaries, asking the right questions, and recognizing when an idea has that spark of originality that makes it worth pursuing. That’s something Seenapse empowers creatives to do—not by replacing their creativity, but by amplifying it. So, how do we ensure AI doesn’t just churn out “mind-numbingly mediocre” ideas? We believe we’re doing our part by building tools that don’t just replicate patterns, but break them. Tools that help us go beyond the average and into the extraordinary. What’s your take? Can AI truly go beyond the average? Let’s discuss, would love to hear your thoughts.
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