Brainstorming is a problem-solving technique that unlocks creativity and generates innovative ideas. Traditionally, it involves human interaction, collaboration, and a free flow of thoughts. As with everything else in business, it has Danger Signs writ large. I had a partner who always wanted to “collaborate”, by which she meant steal my work. The distrust that developed during the brainstorming sessions would have been mitigated by the quantity and impersonal quality of the AI input.
The rise of Generative AI adds an entirely new dimension to the ideation process. AI is egoless and has no direct financial interest in the outcome. It acts as a non-judgmental thought partner, generating ideas, refining concepts, and, when asked its opinion, challenging assumptions.
As with everything AI, there is a right way and a wrong way to use it for brainstorming. When misused, it can lead to impractical, misleading, or costly mistakes. The key is to understand how to use AI effectively while ensuring human oversight.
Strengths of AI
Gen AI bypasses traditional brainstorming roadblocks such as mental blocks, groupthink, or a lack of diverse perspectives. AI offers ideas free from personal bias, fear of judgment, or preconceived limitations. It is effective because it’s fast, produces in volume, and pulls from multiple disciplines, industries, and viewpoints to present solutions. AI does not reject ideas, allowing for free exploration of concepts that might otherwise be dismissed. It also enables iteration and refinement, helping to develop concepts into actionable insights. Most importantly, AI can help overcome mental blocks by suggesting new directions that may not have been considered otherwise.
It's important to start with a clear objective. The more specific the request, the better the AI’s response. Structured prompts are crucial. Instead of posing vague questions, use refined queries that include industry, purpose, and desired outcomes. Asking it to explore multiple perspectives such as a consumer’s, a competitor’s, or take a futuristic outlook can lead to rich insights. A team of humans might have difficulty imagining what outsiders might think, AI doesn’t have that limitation.
Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Mistaking AI’s output for expert advice is a big mistake. AI does not “know” anything, it computes patterns based on training data. Fact-check ideas before accepting them, verify feasibility before acting; AI-generated ideas can be wildly unrealistic.
Don’t let yourself become over-reliant on AI, it should augment human creativity, not replace it. The best results come from a combination of AI-generated insights and human critical thinking. Hybrid vigor is the rule of the day. Humans need to evaluate outputs for practicality, check them for accuracy, and then refine with human insight. Always analyze critically. AI uses probabilistic computing which can make false assumptions or huge mistakes, the dreaded hallucinations.
Once AI generates a list of ideas, an iterative process should follow. The team can engage in a back-and-forth dialogue with AI, query it from a variety of perspectives. I notice that AI often reinforces my opinions that ought to be challenged. Queries from several people will make this obvious.
A big mistake is not providing enough context. This leads to generic and uninspired results. The quality of AI output depends on how well the problem is framed. Goals need to be specific, variables, parameters and dependencies identified, work environment defined.
Hypothetical: Brainstorming a Social Media Campaign
Let’s say you want to use AI to develop a social media campaign. A well-structured prompt series would start by describing your company, its target market, competitive position, and product mix. Inquire about your competition, trends in the industry. Specify social media the apps you use and the results you get. Ask AI to find examples of similar campaigns. Search worldwide if it’s appropriate, AI can be Search on steroids.
Social media is interactive. Do you want to integrate audience and customer involvement in the campaign? Ask AI for ideas how to do this. What chatbots can you use? My friends at BotBuilders specialize in this. Find out what they can do at their free webinar.
Large Language Model (LLM)-based GenAI apps are relatively blind. A few can analyze visuals from a graphic design perspective. This will not help you understand how audiences might react. That’s your job. There are many AI image creation apps that can quickly create mockups and sketches. Humans decide how to use them in a campaign.
AI could generate various campaign ideas and copy points. Ask it to suggest several campaigns then evaluate these ideas and pursue the ones you like. Ask AI to refine the selected ideas further by specifying the platform, target audience, and desired engagement style. Again, don’t t rust the AI, trust your team.
Campaign creation and deployment is a process. It’s necessary to peel away the layers of fluff to get at the kernel of impact. This post is byte sized, it points in a direction, only scratches the surface. Three online resources on social media and brainstorming will take you a little further.: Sprinklr, Canva, and Smart Insights. Remember though, manuals and templates are only as good as the human mind makes them.
Judgement Isn’t Computational
Bottom line, as smart as the developers can make their AI models, they can’t program judgement. Generative AI is not here to replace human creativity, it is here to enhance it. When used correctly, AI can break creative barriers, spark new ideas, and speed up innovation. AI should be treated as a thought partner, not a decision-maker. By maintaining human oversight and judgment, brainstorming with AI becomes a tool for innovation. Without human oversight, AI is a shortcut to trouble.
Byte Sized Tech Tips offers short and focused blog posts and videos aimed at AI users while also exploring the meta world of human thinking opened by the rapid development and deployment of AI tools. It helps to be comfortable with the idea that machines that can think, or closely approximate, thinking. Subscribe, Like, Comment – you know the drill.
The focus is practical: How can businesses and individuals use AI to achieve their goals.
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