At this year’s Pitchfest, Sam Glyn Davies, Head of Creative Technology at eight&four, took the stage with a dynamic and thought-provoking session titled Big Brain Energy- a rapid-fire, deeply human exploration of how AI is changing the way we think, work, and create.
In a world where generative tools are increasingly accessible, Sam asked the big question: how do we make AI useful without letting it replace what makes creativity truly original? His answer: by understanding how AI “thinks” and how that differs from us.
Using everything from dinner-planning hypotheticals to neural networks and pattern prediction, Sam broke down how AI processes data versus how humans make decisions. He mapped these differences through the lens of Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow—contrasting human “System 1” (instinctive, fast) and “System 2” (deliberate, analytical) with how AI mimics instinct but lacks judgment. In short: AI predicts, but it doesn’t understand.
A key highlight of the session was Scholar—a bespoke AI tool developed by eight&four to help a global financial services client transform over 150 long-form whitepapers a week into multi-format, multi-language, channel-specific outputs. Scholar doesn’t just generate content—it does it within strict brand guidelines, in the right tone of voice, with human oversight built in. It’s AI with structure, training, and accountability baked in.
Sam’s takeaway? AI isn’t here to replace human creativity; it’s here to work alongside it. But we need to be deliberate in how we use it. When machines mimic instinct, we need to add human judgment. When AI moves fast, we need to know when to slow it down.
Big Brain Energy was a call to arms for creative technologists and marketers alike - train the tools, trust your instincts, and never let prediction replace imagination.
