Science & Tech · AI · 17 hrs ago
Japanese creative director says AI raises the value of human judgment
Japanese creative director Naoki Ito says people must decide what AI is for as generative tools become common in creative work.
Ito founded the creative group PARTY after working on branding for Nike and other clients at Wieden+Kennedy in Tokyo.
He says AI can lower production barriers and costs, but producing an image or video is no longer enough to show creative expertise.
A PARTY project for a Lawson store in Tokyo used AI to make a screen-based plant change with sunlight and weather.
Ito says the project’s main aim was to change how customers experience the space, not simply to cut costs.
He argues that skilled creators still bring trained judgment and deeper craft knowledge to AI-generated work.
Ito says he asks AI what is unnecessary or should be avoided, rather than asking it to supply the project’s core idea.
He sees the work changing as creators refine AI outputs and connect new tools with existing production methods.
Japanese creative director Naoki Ito says AI makes human judgment about what to create and why more important.
Ito, founder of the creative group PARTY, said using AI is no longer the main question; creators need to know what they want to express with it.
He said AI lowers technical barriers but raises expectations for experts’ aesthetic judgment and understanding of fundamentals such as lighting, physics and composition.
Ito uses AI to identify what a project does not need, rather than asking it to generate the best idea.
He described a PARTY project for a Lawson store in Tokyo that used AI to make a digital plant respond to sunlight and weather.
- Who
- Naoki Ito, founder and creative director of the Japanese creative group PARTY.
- What
- Ito said AI increases the importance of human judgment in creative work.
- When
- He spoke to Donga.com on November 5. The article was published on November 8, 2026.
- Where
- The interview took place at Space S-50 in Seongsu-dong, Seoul.
- Why
- AI makes it easier to produce creative work, so expertise is increasingly judged by the ability to choose and refine what should be made.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Ito founded PARTY after working on branding for Nike and other clients at Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo.
PARTY made an AI-assisted digital plant for a Lawson flagship store at Tokyo’s Takanawa Gateway Station.
Ito met Donga.com in Seoul and discussed how AI is changing creative work and business.
Donga Ilbo published its interview with Ito.
- Role
- Naoki Ito is founder and creative director of PARTY
- Prior work
- Branding projects for Nike and other clients at Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo
- Company founded
- PARTY was established in 2011
- Store project
- AI-assisted digital plant at a Lawson flagship store in Tokyo
- Production cost
- Ito said comparable video made with full 3D computer graphics would cost at least five times as much
What people are saying
Whether to use AI or not is no longer even a subject of debate. What is important is clearly knowing what you want to express with AI.
Usually people ask AI to find a good method. I deliberately ask it to think about what is unnecessary.
If the result is simply conveying information, there is no reason to ask us to do it.
People’s eyes adapt to change faster than you might think.