When anything is possible: what creatives should make in the age of AI
AI isn't a tech upgrade. It's a mirror. It forces creatives to ask harder questions about intent, authorship, and what's worth making when speed is free.
At Upscale Conf in San Francisco, a workshop led by Creative Strategist Jesús Terrada Gómez and Sofia López, Head of Social & Community - AI Growth at Freepik, tackled a blunt prompt: "When anything is possible, what's worth creating?" The conversation moved past hype and into practice, where artistry meets production reality.
Can AI art carry cultural weight?
Sofia López, an art historian with a focus on classical Latin and the Baroque period, puts it simply: "Art always has context. It has a moment in time, and it has intentionality. AI can absolutely participate in that."
The throughline is intent. Tools don't create meaning. Creators do. "AI can make you fast and efficient, but when you want to be intentional, you still can be. The tool doesn't decide that-you do."
Inside Freepik, teams use AI for daily marketing assets, then push the same tools into unexpected territory. Experimental shorts circulate internally and sometimes get beamed onto the office screen. That's the point: use AI as a medium, not a shortcut.
Still, there's a flood of sameness. "We're already drowning in this plasticky, cyberpunk-ish vibe," López warns. "We can do better. We can tell better stories."
Two creative selves: how AI shifts process
Jesús Terrada Gómez-artist, illustrator, scriptwriter-doesn't see AI as a replacement. He sees an extension. "AI didn't make me stop illustrating. I feel like I have two creative selves. Sometimes I start drawing and then jump to AI, or I generate something in AI that sparks a new illustration. They coexist."
Craft evolves with every medium. You can always tell who brings taste, story, and emotion to the table. "Everyone has a camera in their pocket. But not everyone has a photography exhibition. Tools don't equal artistry."
What's worth consuming now?
Attention has shifted. People will watch someone organize a fridge longer than they'll watch an Oscar-winning film. That doesn't mean story died. It means context changed.
History repeats. When photography arrived, hyper-realistic painting lost urgency, and artists moved into surrealism, abstraction, and expression. Then realism returned with fresh value. Cycles move. Strong narratives endure.
Finding your voice in the noise
The internet made everyone a publisher. AI multiplies that output. The opportunity isn't to post more-it's to claim authorship. Ask better questions and your style starts to surface.
López is clear: creators working now will be referenced later. How you work-and what you choose to say-matters.
From concept to cut: practical AI workflow
Terrada Gómez shared short films like Tears of a Clown and The Meteorite of Truth-a claymation-style AI short built on a crisp premise: a meteorite is about to obliterate Earth, and people stop pretending. He wrote the script in about two hours, then generated images and video in roughly three.
Prompts were long and specific. Consistency came from detail, not luck. "Short prompts sometimes work, but we're not at the point where they reliably give consistent character identity or tone."
Prompt like a director
- The type of shot (wide, close-up, medium)
- Camera movement (static, slow push-in, handheld)
- Lighting (hard noon sun, overcast, tungsten practicals, neon rim)
- The character (age, clothing, posture, flaws, tell)
- The mood (uneasy, wistful, manic, deadpan)
- Pacing (snappy cuts, long takes, slow build)
Then, slow down. Study cinema. Study composition. Learn why scenes work. Speed without taste just produces more forgettable content.
Healthy skepticism, smarter experiments
Frustration is common: three prompts, eight fingers, quit. That's not a real test. Give your tool a real brief and a real bar for quality. Iterate with intent.
Also, think through your stance. "What am I as a creator? What do I want? What are my processes? Am I comfortable with what I'm making?" Skip that reflection and your work blends into the feed.
For small startup design teams
There isn't a single playbook yet. That's an advantage. Experiment with workflows, version control, and asset standards. If your company offers enterprise plans, use them to clear compliance hurdles so your team can focus on output and voice.
Push past the default neon aesthetic. Look at what others are building. Study the stories being told. Then set your own constraints and style rules.
Field-tested checklist
- Define the intent: message, emotion, outcome.
- Write the story beat by beat before you prompt.
- Direct like a filmmaker: shots, movement, lighting, pacing.
- Lock character bibles and style guides for consistency.
- Prototype fast, then edit hard. Keep only what serves the story.
- Run a taste pass: remove clichés and stock vibes.
- Ship, gather feedback, refine the system.
Ethics, authorship, and being copied
Copycats exist. They always have. The antidote is a voice so clear it can't be faked: taste, point of view, editorial standards, and a body of work that compounds over time.
Credit your influences. Share process when appropriate. Lead with story and intent. Let the tools do the heavy lifting, not the thinking.
Keep learning, keep making
If you want structured practice, explore focused resources on prompts and creative workflows. Start here:
The medium is here. The feed is loud. The edge will belong to the creatives who mix intention with experimentation, who write better stories, and who refuse the default aesthetic.
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