The Freepik Upscale AI conference showed how AI can be used for art.
Like many creatives, I’ve watched the rise of AI art with a mix of curiosity and concern. For years the art I’ve loved, and struggled to make, has been tactile and intentional – pencil to paper, stylus to screen. The idea that an AI model could churn out art in seconds felt reductive.
Visiting the Freepik Upscale AI conference in San Francisco I was hesitant and but also intrigued by prospect of learning why and how AI could be used creatively. I was ready to meet a room full of over-promises and underwhelming results, a crowd eager to love bad Ghibli memes.
Instead, I found a glimpse of something real and genuinely creative; a tangible future that includes AI art and filmmaking. Not a gimmick, not a tech demo dressed as innovation, but a genuine evolution in how we create and experience art.
I’ve previously met artists like Martin Nebelong who show how using AI can speed up workflows but the speakers and creatives at Freepik Upscale AI conference revealed working faster and cheaper isn’t a focus, finding a new art form is more important. And that stood out. The reasons to use AI for artists and designers isn’t about doing more for less, crunching numbers, but about starting on the first rung of a new artistic ladder.
Source: I went to an AI art conference expecting empty hype – I never expected to be creatively recharged | Creative Bloq
