Virgin Highlights How AI Can’t Compare To The Brilliance Of Dyslexic Minds

As artificial intelligence continues to gather steam, Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson has teamed up with the global organization Made By Dyslexia to shift the spotlight onto a group of creatives that deserve more recognition than the technology: dyslexic thinkers.

No matter how machine-learning tools can produce text, images, and even music, the pair believe that they won’t be able to compare to the ideas a dyslexic person can come up with. Some of the most innovative creators, like the makers of the iPhone and the Mona Lisa, were dyslexic minds.

To showcase this sentiment, creative agency FCB Inferno tasked AI algorithms with generating ideas along the same vein as the world’s most famous dyslexic people—such as Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci, Walt Disney, and Richard Branson himself.

Using prompts including “paint a picture of a Renaissance woman with a mysterious smile,” “build a faster horse,” and “design an iconic London skyscraper shaped like a pickle,” the AI generator was put to the test.

The results, as expected, were a mixed bag. Some seemed predictable, while others were impressive, and a couple were just strange—highlighting the fact that while AI aggregates, dyslexic people innovate, and that technology can’t replace the spontaneous human instinct.

What, then, when you put the two together? An “unstoppable force,” described Branson, as recent research by Made By Dyslexia and Randstad Enterprise noted that 72% of dyslexics see AI tools as a “vital starting point” for their projects and ideas.

To help empower dyslexic thinking within the workplace, the organization is launching a training course on LinkedIn. The program, which will take place later this year, is accepting applications right now at no charge.

“With help from AI, dyslexics have limitless power to change the world, but we need everyone to welcome our dyslexic minds. If businesses fail to do this, they risk being left behind,” summed up Branson.

[via The Drum and Evening Standard, cover image via Virgin / Made By Dyslexia]