Upscale Conference 2025 reviewed, Amplified Imagination from Málaga

Upscale Conference held it’s annual European gathering last week in picturesque Málaga, Spain. Creativity and AI may seem strange bedfellows to some with the efficiency drive of AI bumping up against the messy organic nature of creative production. But the bubbling enthusiasm evident at Upscale Conf shows that there are plenty that believe it’s an augmentation to the creative process rather than a replacement. Upscale Conf is into its third year with AI Entrepreneur Linus Ekenstam as circus master keeping the crowds energised and making sure the focus is always on the creative output rather than the intricacies of AI models.

Upscale Conference 2025 reviewed

The optimism evident over the talks spoke to a resilience that design was always governed by the human as editor. Marten Kuipers of Dutch design firm DEPT® proclaimed that “AI does not have taste but you do” gaining a loud cheer from the room.

While the AI advancements mean that all sectors are experiencing upheaval, we would expect the stalwarts of the creative industry to be treating AI with kid gloves. Veterans Frog Design were represented by Andreas Markdalen who emphasized the importance of human creativity and collaboration in the face of AI, arguing that the ability to connect with people emotionally and create meaningful experiences remains the most crucial factor in the success of any design project.

But AI is pushing barriers and breaking rules and nowhere is this more evident than viral AI video breakout stars The Dor Brothers. Ironically Yonathan Dor is the only Dor that exists, but it doesn’t stop him putting out hugely popular political satires with an irreverent group of 10 employees. Given the reaction to the videos, it’s maybe no surprise that the White House called him looking for more of his edgy style.

Riot

But the economics of the media landscape still prevail. As Yonathan Dor states, the Dor Brothers is  “still a business. So sometimes we post an ad, they’re like, what the fuck is this? Sorry guys, we need to make money. Yeah, you know, we’re up front. I think at the end of the day what people appreciate is transparency and honesty.”

At the moment AI has become a lightning rod for all the controversies, anxiety and optimism swirling around society at large. But as our media landscape is changing Nacho Floristan of Google Cloud predicts that 80% of global internet traffic will be video by 2030. Whether that is dominated entirely by AI generated content remains to be seen.

FreePik Spaces

One of the common issues around AI generation is the parallel task to run models, compare outputs, test parameters and tweak workflows. A hodge podge of techniques might work for an individual, but has been hampering the ability for companies and groups to adopt AI into their workflows.

Upscale’s sponsor, the local Málaga firm, FreePik, used the conference venue to launch their solution to this problem.

FreePik Spaces is an impressive blend of collaboration features and node based workflows. FreePik seems to be tackling the bugbear of most enthusiasts in this Creative AI space. What was previously only available to ComfyUI tinkerers and those comfortable with GitHub repositories is now a node or two away.

Brands can stay aligned while generating work and the shared canvas means iterations and feedback can be visible to all.

Freepik Spaces: The infinite canvas for creative workflows

FreePik for their part sees it as becoming less noticeable even while being more integrated into our lives. Speaking to Irish Tech News, their CEO Joaquin Cuenca said that “wider society will eventually normalize AI, just like computers became commonplace. As AI becomes more integrated into products and services, it will become less noticeable and its impact will be more subtle, focusing on the value of the product itself rather than its AI capabilities.”

More avenues for AI Slop?

The idea that AI is shovelling out slop of low quality and dubious use was not shared by most attendees.

Max Ottignon of Ragged Edge pointed out that the world was producing slop long before AI. As a crowd that had likely been asked to output low imagination corporate work, there was a tangible feeling that market forces rather than AI itself that would demand a change in working practice.

Max Ottignon. Ragged Edge. Image courtesy of Upscale Conf

AI as the new Remix?

Remix culture has been a thing from the inception of media and AI feels it’s carrying that forward from the point of view of the audience. Taking existing ideas and building on top of them with new angles was the birth of hip-hop as well as a number of design and art movements. Linus and others at Upscale argued that the ability to combine media is as natural as creating the media from scratch.

Conclusion

From playing with these tools, it does appear that the space between idea and execution is collapsing. Unlocking the ideas in your head and allowing for iteration seems to be a superpower of AI currently.

Feeling inspired after the conference, I decided on a weekend experiment in generating something from an idea. I took a song from my teenage years and fed it to ChatGPT for scene inspirations. From those, I selected some choice suggestions, created images in Midjourney and animated them into video in Kling AI. Mixed in with some stock video and editing efforts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6VG0Nw0AlY

Taste is still a required skill, but a new wave of creative possibility is upon us. Whether AI persists, at least we have an engaged community trying to shape it for their benefit.

Cian Walsh is a designer with over 25 years in the creative field.  Based in Kinsale, Ireland, he has worked in design teams for Apple, Cisco, Groupon and Citibank. Currently a contract designer, his website is www.afterglow.ie. Upscale Conf provided travel and accommodation for this review.

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