Creative Insights: Electricity, Snowboards, and Llamas

Reflecting on AI’s future, the creative process, and overcoming fears.

A digital collage I prompted called “AI is the New Cloud”

Hey friends. As this is my last roundup of 2024, I just wanted to say thanks for welcoming me into your inbox this year. Let’s do this one more time!

The worst it’s going to be

In a recent interview, Amjad Masad, founder of the web-based development platform Replit, said this about the state of Artificial Intelligence:

It’s the worst it’s ever going to be.

I’ve heard some version of this in the past, but he was speaking in reference to the AI agent they’ve built into their platform that allows non-coders to explain in human language what type of software or app they’d like to build, and then the app just builds itself and deploys automatically.

I paid the requisite $25 in credits to give it a whirl, and it almost blew my mind. As it works, you can see it writing code, and it talks to you along the way seeking clarification for decisions it needs to make. At the end of the day though, of the three relatively simple apps I tried to have it build, none of them actually worked.

Still though, it’s pretty clear that this is the future. While this particular AI agent is, in my opinion, not quite ready for primetime, developing software without writing code is becoming a reality.

This only reinforces the idea I wrote about about previously in which Scott Belsky, chief product officer at Adobe, said “what you do” will become far more important that “how you do.”

Takeaway: not executing upon your creative vision is rapidly becoming a choice. As the tools improve, the barriers to creation are disappearing.

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Your Star Code

Last week, the wonderful

Jack Watson

shared his platform allowing me to write a guest post on his newsletter. Jack is a teacher on the other side of the Atlantic and writes about lessons learned teaching alongside talented veteran teachers.

The piece centers around an induction set activity I do with my students. Here’s how it works: display the star pictured below and ask students to determine the order in which they draw a star.

I’m a 5, 2, 4, 1, 3, 4 for example.

What you find is that while everyone ends up with pretty much the same star, the process it takes to get there is largely different. I use this activity to prompt discussion around the creative process. To see a full breakdown of the lesson activity, and Jack’s takeaway after trying it with his students, check out the original article here.

Takeaway: in a world obsessed with outcomes, it’s important to pay attention to the inputs that led there. The next time you tackle a creative project, take a moment to reflect on your process—and invite others to share theirs.

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Electricity Companies

Yes.

Xinran Ma

’s thoughts on AI remind me a whole lot of 2008-2010 when “THE CLOUD” was the buzzword of the day. Today, every piece of software (even software that doesn’t run in your browser) still runs on cloud based services, but you don’t hear much about it.

Every piece of software today seems to be “AI this or that,” but it won’t be long before that fades away as consumer expectations shift and previously unfathomable application features become commonplace, just like being able to access your files from anywhere at anytime via “the cloud.”

What will remain important is the pain point that the software alleviates.

Takeaway: it’s tempting to chase the latest fads and trends, and sometimes it’s actually necessary to do so, but what’s most important is understanding the wants, needs, and desires, of your audience.

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Confidence vs. Competence

Chris Williamson, host of the Modern Wisdom podcast, recently said this about confidence vs. competence:

“A lack of confidence killed more dreams than a lack of competence ever did.”

Mic drop. What a line!

I was so inspired by it, that I decided to make a classroom poster series based on Williamson’s words… but then I got nervous about copyright infringement, so I paraphrased the quote while staying true to it’s original meaning.

You can download the high resolution PDF here. They’re 13 inches x 19 inches (the largest format paper I can print in-house).

I wonder how many truly talented and creative minds chose the “safe route” in life, never reach their full potential, and deprived the world of their gifts for fear of not succeeding.

Takeaway: As a classroom teacher, I try my best to share the creative things I do. It sometimes puts me in a vulnerable position (teenagers aren’t the gentlest of critics), but I’d rather take my lumps and lead by example than hide that which makes me, me.

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Alto’s Adventure

Despite teaching video game design and development, I myself am not a gamer. I had to hang up the controller in the late 90s about the time Golden Eye came out as it gave me motion sickness when playing. There is one game, however, that I love and recommend to everybody—especially non-gamers: Alto’s Adventure.

The game features Alto, a snowboarder, who embarks on a journey down an infinite mountain, collecting escaped llamas, performing tricks, and avoiding obstacles like chasms and enemies. Gameplay is simple, with one-touch controls for jumping and performing tricks.

The mechanics of the game are enjoyable, but what I love most are its stunning visuals. View game play below.

Here’s the coolest part: The creators of the game learned game development while building the game itself. Ryan Cash, one of the creators, details the story behind the game in his blog post here.

So how successful was the game? It’s hard to say for sure as total download and revenue figures aren’t public, but conservative estimates suggest they’ve made in the ballpark of $3.5 million to date. Not bad for a casual mobile game built by a team of three.

Takeaway: it’s hard to predict the outcome of exploring your curiosities, but sometimes they far exceed even your wildest hopes.

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One More Thing

Good things are better when shared. If you liked this, it would mean the world to me if you sent it to someone who might like it too.

I’ll see you in your inbox on Tuesday one final time this year for two quick hits of inspiration.

Until then,

-Mike