AI as Catalyst, Not Competition: Creative Hope and Human Intent at Upscale Conf by Freepik

The Upscale Conf by Freepik Unmasks the Many Faces of AI in Design

At the sleek SF Jazz Center in San Francisco, designers, founders, developers, and creatives gathered with morning coffees in hand, buzzing with energy. They came together for the Upscale Conf by Freepik, a global conference that connects top creatives and technologists to examine how AI is transforming creative fields—from digital art and design to storytelling, film, and music.

This wasn’t another tech pitch or hype fest. Instead, the event served as a cultural reflection, showing that creative approaches to AI vary widely depending on identity, location, and creative practice.

Different Perspectives on AI Across Cities

On the East Coast, particularly New York, AI conversations tend to be cautious and skeptical. Discussions often focus on the risks: authorship issues, the potential loss of craftsmanship, and concerns about AI squeezing out human designers. Earlier this year at Adobe MAX London, the mood was similarly tinged with apprehension and fatigue. The question was less about if AI would change creativity and more about whether designers would still have a role.

San Francisco offered a stark contrast. The Upscale Conf vibe was exploratory and energized, free from fear. AI was seen less as a threat and more as an invitation to play and experiment. This difference highlights how creative communities shape their relationship with new tools.

Creativity Remains Deeply Human

Kathryn Han from Meta captured the spirit of the event: “Creativity is evolving with technology, but creativity itself is still deeply human and deeply communal.” Her perspective shifted the focus from what AI might replace to what it might revive. Throughout the conference, AI was framed as a catalyst rather than competition.

Joaquín Cuenca, CEO and Co-Founder of Freepik, delivered an “anti-keynote” that avoided flashy tech demos. Instead, he emphasized intention: stock content is just a tool, but the mission is to help everyone create great design faster. For Freepik, AI is about accelerating imagination, access, and joy—not automation for its own sake.

Building AI-First Design Teams

Leonardo de la Rocha, a design leader at SimplePractice, offered a clear, principled approach to integrating AI into design teams without losing the human element. His session included blueprints, company values, product vision, and UX strategies. Yet beneath the structure was a warning: “AI will happen with or without us. It’s our responsibility as creatives to guide the ship.”

This call to lead rather than follow echoed throughout the event. As Claudio Guglieri of Work & Co reminded the audience, every new creative tool—from photography to computers—was once feared as a threat to artistry. Change is constant, resistance is natural, but design endures.

Exploring AI’s Impact on Creative Work

Chad Nelson from OpenAI presented one of the conference’s most provocative moments: a demo of “vibe coding” where a game designer’s mood influenced the game’s layout and behavior in real time. He posed a critical question: “How do we create things that endure, not just things that are easy to make?”

This question cuts to the heart of AI’s role in creativity. While AI can generate vast amounts of content, it risks flooding the creative landscape with work lacking depth and meaning.

Ben Barry reinforced this by reminding attendees that design is about meaning. AI can produce symbols, but only humans assign emotional value. “Be careful what you prompt for,” he advised. Tools may improve, but intention will always outweigh execution.

Andrea Trabucco-Campos offered another perspective with his work on Artificial Typography, embracing AI's imperfections and glitches as part of visual history. “To create something new, you need to understand its origins,” he said, positioning AI not as an eraser of tradition but as a new chapter.

Creative Stewardship Over Replacement

What felt most refreshing about the Upscale Conf was its focus on stewardship. Whether through the launch of Freepik Enterprise, Jason Zada’s AI-driven film trailers, or Tomas Moreno’s technical breakdown of Google Veo and Imagen 4, the emphasis was clear: AI isn’t here to replace human creativity. It’s about redistributing and reclaiming it.

AI opens doors for people who were previously excluded due to cost, access, or skill barriers, inviting more voices into the creative process.

As the conference wrapped, hope was in the air. Not blind optimism, but grounded, complex hope—the kind that emerges when artists and technologists ask, “What else is possible?”

AI will keep evolving, no doubt. But the future of creativity will be shaped first by human hands—sketched messily, bravely, and joyfully.