Creative Agency, Cogfree ‘hires’ their first AI interns.
Cogfree, a creative agency based out of Kolkata, India, which works at the intersection of marketing, branding, technology, and design, has announced the addition of their first-ever AI interns to its creative department. The two AI interns, Arjun and Aditi, will be joining the team from April 1st, 2023, and will be working alongside the agency's human employees to create new designs and content. As the first AI interns in the agency world, Cogfree is excited to pioneer a new era of creative collaboration between humans and machines.
Durvesh Yadavv 
Arjun(L) and Aditi(R) - The two AI interns that are joining Cogfree’s creative department.
Arjun and Aditi will work on various creative tasks and briefs under the guidance of the agency's founders and leaders. Arjun will report to Sudhyasheel Sen, the Founder and Creative Director, and will be responsible for tasks such as editing photos, drafting concept sketches, moodboard imagery, and icon design. Aditi will work alongside Amit Dahal, the Co-founder and Client Servicing Head, on voice-and-tone studies, content analysis, and possibly writing some first drafts of internal content.
Cogfree already uses a range of AI-powered platforms, and the AI interns will be incorporated into the agency's tech stack. However, unlike traditional automated marketing technologies, the AI interns will focus more on creative output. They will receive monthly performance reports, and if their internship is successful, they will have the potential to progress to a full-time role.
The agency is committed to transparency and inclusivity and believes that this program will have tangible takeaways for its team, clients, and the wider industry. Cogfree aims to explore new workflows and processes and envisions a "sandwich" workflow where a human has a creative impulse, gives the AI a prompt, and the AI generates a menu of options. The human then chooses an option, edits it, and adds any touches they like. The agency believes this could be a game-changer in the creative industry.
In this regard, Cogfree’s Founder and Creative Director, Sudhyasheel Sen addressed some of the queries and clarified a few points around this topic.
Q.) What inspired the names and avatars of the interns, specifically?
Ans.) The interns made their own visual presentations and name choices (with prompting from their seniors.)
Q.) Is this merely a publicity gimmick / marketing stunt?
Ans.) We really hope not. Our aim is to be as transparent about our processes and learnings as possible, so the program has tangible takeaways for our team and our clients
Q.) Will these interns receive pay?
They won't be paid, but we will donate their "intern salary" to a reputed city based non-profit, Responsible Charity from the budget set aside to run the internship programme.
Q.) At Cogfree, are human team members being replaced?
Ans.) Absolutely not. In fact, presently, there are many unfilled positions and we are actively hiring for different roles at the moment. We strongly believe that AI can augment and compliment ( not replace ) human creativity which will be a win-win for us and our clients as well.
Q.) What AI enabled tech tools do you use?
Ans.) Currently, we use a combination of tools like ChatGPT, Mid-Journey, Dall-E 2, Synthesia and other technologies that we’re picking up along the way. The space is evolving very fast we’re keeping an eye on all the developments.
Q.) How does Cogfree’s clients feel about this experiment?
Ans.) Some of our clients are leaders in AI and ML, and we expect that they’ll be supportive. But Arjun and Aditi won’t be doing client-facing work until we’ve figured out what kind of work they can do reliably, and the clients have expressed their support for the same. We see it as a potential win-win-win for our clients, our agency, and our team members.
