Sophisticated technology or human intuition - as a participant of the "Festival de la créativité" in Cannes, one is torn between these two poles. Both have their justification, but one tenor prevails: Technology is just a tool that creative people can use to let their ideas fly higher. Here's a small sample of the controversial approaches - hot off the press, so to speak, from the Cannes Lions Talk Rooms:

 

Creativity by technology or by being childish?
 
What a contrasting day in Cannes! First, the presentation of the latest technological method of reading our emotions from our face, calculating an algorithm from it and then applying it to the design of advertising materials. That's more or less the short version of "crowd emotion intelligence".  
 
As a counterpart, the presentation of a project recently carried out in a London school. The surprising result: 7-year-olds are far more creative than adults! The key is: "divergent thinking" (as opposed to "lateral thinking"). This has already been scientifically substantiated:
Among 5-year-olds there are 98% "divergent thinking geniuses", among 10-year-olds it is already only 32%, among 15-year-olds 10% and among adults a paltry 2%.
 
Pablo Picasso already said, "Every child is an artist." And Walt Disney: "Every child is born blessed with a vivid imagination." But what can we as adults learn from this?
 
1. loose focus: children are daydreamers, they are not focused on one thing, there is never a standstill in their mind. "So wasting time can make us more creative!"
 
2. get sweaty: Children can't sit still. They are always on the move. Even Einstein said about the discovery of the theory of relativity: "I thought of it while a was cycling a bit." In fact, that part of our brain that is responsible for motor skills is heavily involved in the creativity process. Movement of any kind activates our creative potential!
 
3. get in play mode: 7-year-olds are still stress-free. They are not yet receptive to social, creative, or competitive pressures. Science shows that during the creative process, far fewer brain regions are activated under stress than in a relaxed state. Goofing off, laughing, playful approach to a project helps!

"We do not stop playing because we grow old,
we grow old because we stop playing."
(George Bernard Shaw)