AI OK.

I've felt more like a politician during an election cycle the last few weeks, door-stopping my 14th café for the day while catching up with another great friend or colleague, collective member (old and new) and even a few hopefully new clients.

And once the conversation moved past 'what's been happening?' and 'how is it out there?' it quickly turned to AI.

And I've got to keep that SEO and impressions up, so naturally, I had to post about it.

And I had a great post almost written. About how I can't blame businesses for jumping on AI for creative because it's cheap and quick. In today's environment, that's bloody appealing.

And then I was going to talk about what's really happening. That those businesses are handing the creative equivalent of a circular saw to someone who's never built a frame. You might get something that looks like a wall, but it won't be straight, it won't be strong, and given it’s AI it'll definitely look a little wonky.

But then yesterday Google had mic-dropped Google Flow and I immediately thought, "oh shit" as post after post showed artistic, creative, crafted film.

But then I stopped, and realised all I planned to say was even more valid.

Flow is truly incredible. Jaw-dropping unreal realism. The catch? It’s an AI filmmaking tool, specifically designed for actual filmmakers.

Google didn't build this for content farms or social media managers looking for quick video posts. They built it with and for creatives, working directly with filmmakers.

So, just like when everyone thought they could be a designer when PCs landed, there’s a lot of people who think they can be a filmmaker now.

But I think what's actually going to happen, is the gap gets wider. Using Illustrator doesn't make you Paul Rand any more than having a hammer makes you a chippy.

The ad industry is quick to kill, and even quicker to chase the next great hope. So, no wonder there are so many AI-written opinions on who AI is going to kill next.

But TV isn't dead, we're watching more than ever, on multiple screens. Cinema isn't dead, it just ran out of original ideas. Even the idea behind Blockbuster isn't dead, just the delivery model.

The pattern's always the same. Technology changes, but as someone who's spent a lot of time working on behaviour change campaigns, humans are incredibly hard to shift.

But, just like the iPhone's 4K video put the power of generic content in the hands of many, the incredible leaps and bounds of AI will open a world of possibility to many. But without an idea, you'll just be seeing technically incredible wallpaper to scroll past.

Google's Flow is wasted on me. But if someone who knew what they were doing took it and my script, I can only begin to imagine. Used right, AI tools amplify vision, rather than replacing years of learning what works and what doesn't.

The difference isn't the technology. It's knowing where to point the camera in the first place.

The Pitch Collective brings together many decades of collective experience, across all forms of creative, content, media and production. And sure we use AI (you should too) to help bring ideas to life, to save time and deliver more cost effective creative. But we’re not AI driven, it’s the other way around.