At a time when artificial intelligence (AI) fans are pushing out artists, writers, and musicians, it’s offensive for Apple to imply we can do without all those old analog creative types. (I’m reminded of how James McNerney, former Boeing CEO, would call his company’s senior engineers “phenomenally talented a**holes.” If Apple ends up shoving out its creative people the way Boeing did its engineers, future Apple products might be as “good” as the Boeing 737 Max 9, and the 787 Dreamliner.)
No one will die from a bad Apple, but it’s a red flag whenever a company mistreats its top people. It’s a slap in the face to all of Apple’s in-house creatives, as well as the company’s many loyal creative users.
The timing could not have been worse. People, especially creative pros, are understandably nervous about their work being stolen and losing their jobs to soulless AI algorithms and apps. This ad is that very fear crystallized into 60 seconds of video.
