Digital
Nearly three-quarters of creative leaders in India view generative AI as an essential part of their toolkit: Canva survey
Mumbai: Canva, the world’s only all-in-one visual communication platform, has released new insights from more than 4,000 marketing and creative leaders on their attitudes towards generative AI. The company commissioned Morning Consult to survey marketers and creatives from India, US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia, to understand how AI is transforming their organizations and their roles.
The top findings specific to India include:
● Generative AI is fast becoming a fixture in the modern workplace. Ninety-seven percent of marketing and creative leaders are comfortable with the rise of generative AI, with 72 per cent already considering it an essential part of their creative toolkit.
● AI is unlocking productivity and unleashing creativity. The majority (84 per cent) agree that AI-powered tools reduce the minutiae of repetitive tasks, freeing them up to focus on the more creative and meaningful parts of their role. Seventy percent say generative AI tools are enhancing their team’s creativity with 72 per cent reporting time savings of at least 2-3 hours per week. Thirty-nine percent of teams are saving between 4-5 hours per week on creative projects. Of the minority (15 per cent) who feel generative AI tools are limiting their team’s creativity, the most common objection (53 per cent) was preventing the development of original ideas.
● The AI ecosystem is fragmented and complex. Seventy-four percent believe there are already too many generative AI tools, with 75 per cent overwhelmed by the learning curve. While most are excited about the opportunities to elevate creativity, 62 per cent feel pressured to use it to keep pace with change and 58% say they don’t know how to get the most value out of the technology.
● Generative AI is transforming the content creation process. With marketers and creatives tasked with creating huge volumes of content, many are turning to AI for assistance. Most respondents have used generative AI to create written content (88 per cent), generate unique images 84 per cent or edit images and videos (83 per cent). Looking five years ahead, more than half (55 per cent) believe generative AI tools will be better than humans at creating visual images.
● Concerns about data privacy persist. The ability of generative AI tools to process data and generate sensitive information has raised some concerns. Marketing and creative leaders ranked customer data (77 per cent), company data (76 per cent), and personal data (74 per cent) risks as their top concerns, over job loss, plagiarism, and bias. Organisations are addressing these risks, with more than half (56 per cent) saying their company has established strict guidelines for the use of generative AI.
Canva global head of brand marketing Natalie Schwartz said, “Tighter budgets, increased content demands, and non-stop deadlines have led marketers to embrace generative AI tools to scale their output. Our findings reinforce the fact that AI-powered tools are breathing new life into creativity and productivity for marketers, a profound impact we see firsthand as a visual communication platform. In India, we’re seeing an overwhelming acceptance of generative AI amongst marketing and creative leaders. Clearly, they’re excited to see how this technology will impact the larger marketing ecosystem.”
Methodology
Canva commissioned Morning Consult to survey 4,050 business leaders in marketing and creative roles. These individuals are decision-makers for purchasing software in their department or company. Specifically, Canva surveyed 505 business leaders in the United States, 500 in the United Kingdom, 513 in Spain, 503 in Germany, 497 in France, 524 in Brazil, 315 in Mexico, 377 in India, and 316 in Australia.
Digital
Ethical AI must benefit society, not dominate it, says WFEB chief Sanjay Pradhan at IAA event
At Mumbai event, ethics expert urges businesses and governments to shape AI responsibly
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence may be racing ahead at lightning speed, but its direction must still be guided by human conscience. That was the central message delivered by Sanjay Pradhan, president of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), during the latest edition of IAA Conversations held in Mumbai.
The session was organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of India (AIAI) in association with The Free Press Journal at the Free Press House on 7 March. Addressing a packed audience, Pradhan called for stronger ethical leadership to ensure AI remains a tool that benefits humanity rather than one that governs it.
“Artificial intelligence has rapidly become one of the most powerful technologies humanity has created,” Pradhan said. “It is unlocking breakthroughs in medicine, science and creativity at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago.”
But he warned that the same technology carries serious risks. AI, he noted, can amplify disinformation faster than facts can travel, compromise privacy, deepen discrimination and disrupt millions of livelihoods. Referencing concerns raised by AI pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, often called the godfather of AI, Pradhan stressed that the real challenge is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether humans will shape it with ethics and wisdom.
Structuring his talk around four guiding questions, why, what, how and who, Pradhan introduced the audience to WFEB’s emerging AI Ethics Partnership, a global platform aimed at advancing responsible artificial intelligence. He outlined four priority concerns that demand urgent attention: disinformation, bias and discrimination, data privacy and job security.
To make the idea of ethical AI easier to grasp, Pradhan offered a simple metaphor. Ethical AI, he said, is like a three layered cake. The outer layer represents the visible value ethical AI creates for businesses and society. The middle layer is organisational culture that moves ethics from written codes to everyday practice. The innermost layer, however, is the most crucial, the conscience of individual leaders.
Drawing from Indian philosophical thought through WFEB co-founder Ravi Shankar, Pradhan noted that while artificial intelligence can reproduce stored knowledge, true intelligence is boundless and rooted in conscience, creativity and compassion. Practices such as breathwork and meditation, he suggested, can help leaders develop the calm clarity needed for ethical decision making.
The event also featured a discussion with Maninder Adityaraj Singh, chief of staff and head of innovation at Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Yash Johri, lawyer, Supreme Court of India.
Opening the session, IAA India chapter president Abhishek Karnani, highlighted the need for industries to understand and engage with AI responsibly.
“AI has to be befriended and understood,” added Rediffusion managing director and AIAI national convenor Sandeep Goyal. “Its ethical use will determine whether it becomes a friend or a foe.”
As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Pradhan ended with a simple but powerful call to action. Businesses, governments and individuals must work together to ensure that the algorithms shaping the future reflect human values rather than just cold logic.
