When AI spins its cocoon, how can brands rediscover that non-algorithmic light?

Ray Lan, ECD at Design Bridge and Partners, discusses the pitfalls of AI compared to authentic human creativity when it comes to designing effective brands.

We live in a time when creativity and algorithms are deeply intertwined. AI can now compose, design and even imitate emotion. Yet in doing so, it often smooths out the very irregularities that make human creativity authentic. For brands, this creates an urgent challenge: how to remain truly human in a machine-driven world. The promise of AI lies in its precision and speed, but its danger lies in sameness. The more brands depend on AI-generated insights, the more they risk blending into a sea of similarity. When everyone expresses empathy, authenticity and sustainability in the same tone, color palette and rhythm, what was once a path to distinctiveness is now one that leads to “algorithmic similarity.”

To step outside this invisible cocoon, brands must embrace the complexity of being human. AI can process behavior, but it cannot feel the irrational or contradictory layers of emotion that define us. Human creativity lives in tension, in the push and pull between science and warmth, the individual and the collective, tradition and reinvention. These tensions are not problems to be solved but sources of vitality and truth. While AI gives us the means, brands must seek deviation: the beautifully unreasonable spark that makes an idea unforgettable, renders a story believable and brings a symbol to life.

Redefining a brand’s unique meaning in this context is less about differentiation and more about discernment. It means going beyond surface-level differences to uncover deeper cultural and emotional insights. The most resonant brands tap into overlooked cultural threads, express new shades of emotion, such as the quiet power of calm or the confidence of gentleness, and act not as teachers but as companions, inviting people to act and feel with them. In this way, brand meaning is no longer a slogan or a data point but a living experience born from empathy and imagination.

Ultimately, AI should be a co-creator, not a commander. Its role is to inspire new possibilities, not dictate conclusions. The direction of meaning, including what feels real and what creates resonance, must still come from people. The brands that will truly transcend the algorithm are not those that know the most, but those that dare to ask the questions no one else asks. Their new mission is simple yet profound: to help people feel human again. In a world filtered by code and precision, the most valuable light a brand can offer is a non-algorithmic one, a light that reminds us of emotion, imagination, beauty and kindness. Things that no machine can yet measure.