What The F*ck Is Going On With AI? By Jesus Plaza

Every few weeks, AI surprises me again. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, something new arrives - another tool, another workflow, another way to push the boundaries of image-making. I’ve spent the past months speaking with creators, brands, and technologists, including recently at Upscale Conf Málaga, where the conversations revealed something bigger than any one announcement or feature.

There’s a split happening in our industry.
Not between “AI lovers” and “AI haters,” but between two very different ideas of what AI actually is.

You’ve heard this pitch:
Press a button, wait two minutes, and get a finished film for the price of a coffee.

And yes - AI can be shockingly fast. Some processes that once took days now take minutes. Iteration is easier than ever. The barrier to experimentation has collapsed. That’s all true.

But speed doesn't equal craft. 

You can produce something “pretty” almost instantly - but “pretty” is not the same thing as storytelling. It’s not the same thing as craft, intention, or emotion, or authorship.

Roger Deakins just said “As long as you have something to say and a decent story. I don't care what you use”

Then there’s the other group….the people who come from years of filmmaking, design, animation, photography. People who know the knot in the stomach when a piece is finally “finished.” AI won’t take that knot away, but it can help you get to that moment after exploring a universe of options.

I’ve been directing and crafting images for twenty years. AI hasn’t replaced anything essential in that process. What it has done is let me explore ideas at a speed and scale that traditional methods simply never allowed. It's opening doors, opportunities and creatively the latter allow me to explore, routes I can test, worlds I can shape and discard….long before committing to a final vision. But through all of that, the story has always remained the centre of gravity in everything I make.

Because the real work - the emotional truth, the storytelling, the decisions that ultimately define a piece….will always be human.