Putting the Art Back in StARTups?
Entrepreneur Office Hours - Issue #338
Inside the Office
This week, a couple of us from Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship sat down with Duke’s Vice Provost for the Arts to talk about ways our programs might collaborate.
To be clear, that part wasn’t new. We’ve been working with Duke’s arts community for years, and some of my favorite projects have come from those partnerships.
What was new was the context hanging over the conversation. Specifically… AI.
Like with most of you, I’m sure, the past few years have included lots of conversations with entrepreneurs, engineers, venture capitalists, and technologists about what AI might mean for the future of work. And one of the observations that seems to come up over and over again is that the careers we’ve traditionally considered “safe” — computer science, software engineering, technical knowledge work — suddenly don’t seem quite as safe as they once did.
At the same time, I’ve had plenty of conversations and read lots of thought pieces arguing the things we associate with artists (e.g. creativity, taste, originality, emotional resonance, etc.) are becoming more valuable because they’re harder to replicate.
I’m sure you’ve heard some version of that argument before. I realize none of this is groundbreaking.
Instead, what struck me was a realization that I’ve almost exclusively been discussing this stuff with other “tech people” and “business people.” I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I’d sat down with artists and asked them what they thought.
Do they agree with this narrative? Are they excited by it? Skeptical? Does it even match what they’re experiencing? Or is this just another story the technology world is telling itself about the future?
I don’t have answers. And my one meeting with the Duke Arts Provost isn’t exactly statistically significant. But it did remind me of something I think entrepreneurs forget surprisingly often. We spend lots of time talking about people instead of talking to them.
But remember, the best entrepreneurs don’t just form opinions inside their own bubbles. They deliberately seek out the people whose perspectives are missing from the conversation. And sometimes those perspectives confirm what you already believed. Sometimes they completely reshape how you think about a problem. Either way, having the conversation is a necessary step, and I feel like I need to start having this particular conversation about the impacts of AI on the arts with more people who are deeply invested in the arts.
In fact, I’d be curious to hear from some of you. If you work in the arts — or work closely with artists — how are these AI conversations landing where you are? Are you optimistic? Concerned? Rolling your eyes at the whole thing? Hit reply and let us know, or, better yet, drop a comment.
-Aaron
Worth Your Time
Do customers keep telling you your product is “really interesting,” but then you can’t close the sale? Are you getting meetings that feel great but then your contact goes silent?
If any of this feels familiar, this HBR piece is worth your time. The authors interviewed more than 250 founders across six continents, then compared the results to a similar study they ran a decade ago. They concluded that the sales playbook most founders are running was built for a market that no longer exists. Not today… not when sustainable competitive advantage is crumbling as every company has the tools to build rapidly.
The article both diagnoses the challenges that software startups face and offers a framework to think about changes you may want to consider to move from positive calls to closing the deal.
 | A guest post by
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Hi Professor Dinin! I'm Marilyn, a Duke rising sophomore studying Technology Policymaking and Innovation for Art (Program II). I've been attending conferences/exhibits/etc. centered on AI and creativity while in NYC, and it seems like artists and public policymakers largely agree with the sentiment you've described above-- although it's unclear how exactly creativity will be reprioritized in the job market, there is a feeling of certainty that it will be key.
Artists are also breaking out of the "victim" role with AI, taking advantage of its peculiarities to use it as a medium to express surreal imagery (Kelly Boesch) or visualize giant datasets (Refik Anadol). From what I've seen, most artists believe arts themselves are not necessarily at risk of being taken over by AI -- the authenticity and lived experience artists bring is too important. However, I believe artists also don't necessarily see AI as a huge benefit to their work outside of its potential as a medium. People seek human authenticity from artists, even in things as easy to generate as Instagram posts or website captions. One example of (what I believe) is AI failing an artist was identified by my friend while touring the Guggenheim-- in an artist's statement, a key inspirational art piece was misidentified with another, similarly named and dated but completely different text. How embarrassing!