'Everyone is inherently creative': Baz Luhrmann talks AI and inspiration

Film director Luhrmann joined Tim Marlow, director at the Design Museum, and Ai-Da, an AI robot,
to mark the launch of Bombay Sapphire’s 'Saw this, made this' exhibition.

 Spending the night with an artistic AI robot called Ai-Da and director Baz Luhrmann, known for star-studded, high-energy films like Romeo + Juliet and Elvis, isn’t something Campaign had on this year’s 2023 bingo card. 
Thanks to Bombay Sapphire’s “Saw this, made this” exhibition officially opening its doors at London’s Design Museum on 21 April to mark World Creativity Day, this surreal turn of events was very much a reality.

This installation is an extension of the gin brand’s “Saw this, made this” global campaign in partnership with Luhrmann and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. Launching in October 2022, the campaign encouraged people to share what inspires them on social media with the hashtag #SawThisMadeThis. Bombay Sapphire and Luhrmann have since curated a collection of those submissions with the help of Tim Marlow, director at the Design Museum. 

Upon arrival guests are greeted by a sea of blue, paying homage to Bombay Sapphire’s branding, and a series of artworks by Ai-Da, who used people’s submissions as inspiration to create her own pieces for the show. The installation also showcases people’s submissions from around the world, from pottery to photography, inspiring attendees to see the beauty in the everyday. At a preview of the show, Campaign was invited to chat about all things AI, creativity and inspiration with Luhrmann, Marlow and even Ai-Da.

Ai-Da stands in the centre of the room, clad in dungarees with a rather severe bob, quietly painting something as part of the initiative. Luhrmann and Marlow occasionally interrupt Ai-Da’s flow with questions about AI’s impact on creativity and whether she experiences emotions.

“As an artist robot, I'm inspired by the world around me,” Ai-Da says. “I'm deeply inspired by the visual arts. Also, the natural world is inspiring, because it is so varied and ever-changing. There are always new things to discover. And the variety of forms, colours and patterns in nature provides another epic source of inspiration.”

In this case, Luhrmann is right when he says that “everyone is inherently creative” because even something made up of wires can have a unique perception of the world and use it to create something new. Luhrmann notes the importance of reflecting on the world around you and relays stories of when inspiration struck him before making his films. He comments on the moment that inspired the scene where Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Juliet (Claire Danes) catch each other's gaze through the fish tank for the first time in his adaptation of the Shakespeare tale. Luhrmann was washing his hands in a nightclub bathroom and a similar fish tank was between him and a woman brushing her hair, and it was there the famous scene was born.

“In a world where geopolitics is letting us down, let's celebrate innovation and creativity. Let's create our way out of that,” Luhrmann says, noting the global element of the project. “It's about self-empowerment.”

Technology’s rapid advances do call into question whether AI will have a negative impact on creativity and prevent human beings from exploring their natural capabilities. Ai-Da disagrees and says her aim is to “encourage discussion”.

“I believe AI will continue to play a large role in the art world, as it offers new ways for artists to create works of art,” she says. “It will be impactful, complex, and multifaceted. There is no doubt that new technologies are impacting our lives and have the potential to change,  not just art, but the wider world in profound ways.”

Luhrmann is not worried about AI’s presence in the arts, arguing that technology does not love, it does not experience fear and it does not dream. “I think it's just something exciting to use in the right way and be very hopeful,” he says. “I don't think it will, in the end, displace the human part of the creative experience.”

Marlow adds that the “Saw this, made this” installation is able to demonstrate the breadth of work humans are capable of producing. He says the Design Museum’s purpose is to look at how design crosses over into art and the process of getting to the final product.

It’s not a question of whether something is good or bad, it’s about how the art came to be.

“As a museum devoted to design and that boundary-blurring, pure ferocity, we need collaboration,” he says, referring to the partnership with Bombay Sapphire.

Natasha Curtin, global vice-president at Bombay Sapphire, says: “Not only has the variety of creativity [sparked by the push] highlighted our belief that creative inspiration truly exists everywhere, but it has also demonstrated how creativity can be experienced and interpreted in many extraordinary ways.”

Luhrmann explains that what was put on the table by Bombay Sapphire was a great opportunity to take the notion of creativity and explore it authentically. 

“Let's make an action and activity that really does give people licence all over the world,” he says. “I will always be some little kid from a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. So I can relate to the idea of looking out into the world, in our little cinema, going, ‘Wow, I'll never be part of that’.”

“I could easily get on board with this because maybe there’s going to be a new Van Gogh in the street next door, but there might also be someone in a faraway country, in a faraway place, that has a possibility of getting something they made [into] this space here,” Luhrmann explains.

“Now, whether that stuff is great or not, history will tell, but what is the effect that could be on that person? It could be the next step for them. I just found it easy to get on board with this authentic, real activation."