Brainstorming in the age of AI
AI is fundamentally changing brainstorming, but it can’t replace what is uniquely human about it.
In the 1950s, Alex Osborn, a founding partner of leading global advertising agency BBDO, invented brainstorming. A process designed to free people from judgement, fear, and silence so better ideas could emerge.
His rules for brainstorming?
No judgement.
Go for quantity.
Invite wild ideas.
Combine and build on ideas shared.
Keep the room just big enough (5–12 people of varying experiences).
He also set two conditions for successful brainstorming sessions:
Prior briefing: Each participant had to be briefed on the problem to be solved and the conditions for the brainstorming session in advance.
Facilitator: Sessions needed to be facilitated by someone independent. That way all participants contributed equally.
And it worked.
In 1956, BBDO ran 47 brainstorming sessions, holding 401 workshops that generated over 34,000 new ideas. Of those, 2,000 (6%) were considered high-quality and investment-worthy. Without this structured brainstorming process, the majority of those valuable ideas would never have seen daylight.
Now, we have AI.
It can spark, remix, and multiply ideas in seconds. It can make five people think creatively like hundreds.
Do you need 47 brainstorming sessions and over 400 workshops to create 34,000 new ideas now? Not a chance.
AI is a creative amplifier that can rapidly speed up creative processes used in the right way.
But AI can’t replace the uniquely human element of creativity. Which is knowing what ideas matter.
That’s why Osborn’s principles are just as important now as when they were created seventy years ago.
Brainstorming isn't just about generating new ideas, it's about being able to pick the right ones to use.