Free your mind, AI will follow

Recently, our Joint MD, Adam Sherlock, teamed up with our Creative Director, Peter Michels, and Art Director, Andy Upton, to explore how AI is pushing us to be more human, more analogue, and more creatively unhinged (in a good way).

Read more below and check it out on LinkedIn

There’s been a flurry of conversations recently about whether or not AI is creative. Is it going to wipe out the creative community in one Spielbergian zap? Should you finally open that doggie bakery your neighbourhood desperately needs?

Maybe we’re looking at this all wrong. Maybe we’re not asking the right questions.

It’s not about whether AI is creative. It’s about how AI is affecting our own creativity and our creative futures—positively. This is about us after all.

I’d like to approach this discussion of AI in the design space from a different perspective: what if AI actually sets us free creatively?

I sat down with our Art Director, Andy Upton, to talk about how AI isn’t here to steal our creative souls—it might just let us fly. If we play this right, if we own this moment, AI could be our ticket to being more human, more analog, and more unhinged (in a good way) with our ideas. At least as artists. We could be quicker, stronger, and capable of grabbing the undiscovered.

Hear me out.

“The reality of AI is that it’s a simulation of creativity,” Andy said after a sip. “It’s taking what it’s learned and piecing it together. So, is it creative? Not in the truest sense of human creativity.”

AI isn’t out here dreaming up the next postmodern masterpiece. It’s pulling from what already exists, remixing it like a DJ with unlimited samples. It can assist, but it can’t originate.

That’s where we come in.

The wild originality. The gut feelings. The moments where you think, this is either genius or completely certifiable. The subjective messiness of creativity—that’s human.

For the longest time, beyond the artistic spark, being a designer meant mastering tools—whether it was charcoal and ink, scissors and glue, or Adobe. But now?

Still true. But AI shifts the game.

“AI takes away the more skill-based element of knowing how to do something and pushes you more into the idea side of things,” Andy pointed out. And that’s liberating.

Being creative for creativity’s sake. Digging into the dusty corners of your heart and soul. AI lets us actually open up areas of our brain that haven’t raised their hands in a while.

Instead of grinding for hours in soul-crushing stock libraries, a well-trained prompt lets us generate those elements ourselves—and they’re ours. There’s even a sense of pride in that.

Think about the exploration on all levels—concepting, inspiration, building elements, even proofing. It’s not about losing craft—it’s about separating craft from creativity.

At this point, it’s critical to realise that AI replaces nothing whole. It’s still a skill. A tool. And like any tool, it needs the piloting of a craftsman. Even then, it can’t do everything—it’s just one coat of paint.

I have cameras that haven’t smelled silver in decades, records hibernating in the “B’s” that haven’t hit the mat since consistent seasons (I haven’t forgotten about you, Bangles), and ornate plates that house a dozen oysters perfectly—that have been used… never.

None of these things are going anywhere.

I’m not a hoarder.

There’s a visceral connection—a memory of that emotion. These are crumbs of our creative therapy.

What I’m getting at is that AI is actually making a lot of us less digital. It’s pushing us back into the analogue world, giving us more time to experience the things that make us who we are.

We’ve been freed up to get our hands dirty again. Get everything dirty.

“I’ve seen more designers excited about getting physical with their work—painting, collaging, using their hands—because AI can’t replicate that experience,” Andy said. “There’s something about physically pushing paint around that you don’t get from just prompting MidJourney.”

And that’s the irony.

AI is pushing us back toward our roots as artists and storytellers. The things that feel raw, messy, and personal—AI can’t touch those. And that’s exactly why they matter more than ever.

That’s the paradox.

AI gives us speed, efficiency, and endless iterations, but it also reminds us why human touch matters. It helps us focus on the feeling behind the work, rather than just the mechanics.

And that’s not to say using AI isn’t a part of this analogue evolution. Andy’s personal work proves it. Finding the right image or pattern to “cut out” for his compositions has dropped the needle on the next chapter of his visual storytelling.

The problem isn’t AI itself—it’s the idea of AI. It’s the fear of AI.

But let’s be real: people once thought Photoshop was cheating. Now? It’s just part of the process.

“It’s just expected. AI as a term will probably disappear and just become part of most of our tools. It’s already happening,” I told Andy.

“It’s important to remember it’s just part of the process, not the process,” Andy said. “Like Photoshop helped you get where you were going, AI does the same—but you need to know when and how to use it. That’s a skill on its own.”

Narratives always change over time.

AI isn’t a supervillain. It’s not the main character, either. It’s that background extra holding a boom mic, making sure we sound good while we do our thing.

It’s here to help us create and evolve. To make us wilder, more unpredictable, and push storytelling beyond the expected seven storylines.

I’m not treating it like a threat.

I’m treating it like the overqualified, unpaid intern who still has a lot to learn.

And I haven’t had to talk to HR in weeks.

It might even bring you a taco someday while you’re busy changing the creative world.

And take comfort in this: if AI were really here to replace us, it would have come up with a better closing line than this.

So, what do you think? Does AI make us more creative or am I off base? Is it an overqualified intern, or are we actually training it? Drop your thoughts…somewhere?

Feeling inspired? See how we can free your mind on your next project. Get in touch to see how we can collaborate.