It is not every day that one attends an event taking a walk with the sea and the sunrise in the background. But that’s just what happened to us Upscale Confa conference organized by the Spanish company freepik. The objective: to serve as a meeting point for a creative community that is absolutely dedicated to the world of AI.
It is the third edition of Upscale Confthe second in Malaga —San Francisco was the other venue in May—and it is clear that we are facing what is little by little becoming one of the great events of the intersection between human creativity and creativity? of generative AI models.
It doesn’t seem like attendees have too many doubts about it. After the almost inevitable queue for accreditations, two days of talks, workshops and much, much begin. networking. Showing a QR code on your mobile to connect to LinkedIn is the modern version of the business cards of yesteryear.
To me, a very occasional user of this network, I find that surprising and very invasive: hey, I might not want to follow you on LinkedIn. I liked it better when you simply asked for the email—which didn’t commit you as much—and even more when people gave you their business card, which was almost like a trading card from before. You didn’t just keep business cards: you almost collected them. That time seems to have almost vanished.
AI democratizes creativity made into an image
Be that as it may, once inside the atmosphere is surprisingly optimistic. No one here seems to be worried about being replaced by an AI, something that It has already begun to be seen in China in 2023 in creative works. There are no nerves or restlessness in the respectable: only expectation and acceptance of an apparent reality. The one that AI is here and no one is going to stop it.
Compared to other conferences with a more technical background, here is a scent of discovery. Wanting to know what this can give. To listen to the people who are trying to be the spearhead explain how their relationship with AI is going in what was theoretically the last frontier that AI would never conquer, human creativity.
I come across attendees from here and there and I ask two of them what their motivation is for attending Upscale Conf. Andy and Antonio are from a tourism agency in Malaga and they explain to me that they already use AI in the software development part, but curiously, not so much in the visual and creative part. The argument is forceful: “in the tourism sector, using artificial photos can be very dangerous.” And yet, they come to take the pulse of this apparent revolution and learn from it.
What I find everywhere are very diverse profiles and, curiously, not necessarily linked to the creative segment. I speak with (another) Antonio, who like me has gray hair and who, like me, is also optimistic about the future of AI. He is not creative, but rather helps companies understand the potential of AI for a fundamental aspect: productivity. And like the kids from Malaga, you are here to learn, discover and be inspired.
Four guys who are talking animatedly tell me the same thing practically when I interrupt them and ask them what sectors they come from. There is a little bit of everything. One of the boys, a content creator, took advantage of current tools to demonstrate that kitten olympics They can have a lot of pull.
DEPT’s Marten Kuipers made it clear that not everyone sees this creative AI thing as a good idea. He, like the rest of the attendees, has a different opinion.
Two others, in the real estate segment, are investigating possible uses of generative image and video AI for their business. The fourth, in the consulting branch, explains to me that the other great reason is not only to learn, but a classic of events: networking. Meet people and make yourself known. Putting faces to people with whom you had been exchanging messages for months (or years?) on Twitter (sorry, X) or on Instagram or LinkedIn.
From IG or TikTok influencers to creatives who take advantage of AI
But in all cases, we insist, absolutely optimistic atmosphere between professionals from both sides who seem to see this as an opportunity. One in which some are certainly making gold: several of the speakers at the event are new stars in the firmament of content creators.
PJ Accetturo during his presentation explaining how to make a viral video. The idea is still the important thing, the process and the prompts are surprisingly “normal”.
For example, PJ Accetturo, creator of the famous trailer for ‘The Lord of the Rings’ in Studio Ghibli style…before OpenAI I would copy the idea. Or Yonatan Dor, who have managed to get their gritty videos created with AI—using the image of Trump, Musk or Kamala Harris—become viral phenomena that already have hundreds of millions of visits.
AI helps, but it doesn’t come close to doing everything. Laura Pin showed in her 90-minute workshop how she combines Midjourney, nanobanana, Magnific, Topaz AI, Photoshop and Lightroom to achieve just what she had in her head. The attention to detail is extraordinary.
We walked through the different conferences and workshops and, as in any event, we found a little of everything. The days begin with the entrance of Linus Ekenstam (@LinusEkenstam), popularizer and influencer of this segment, who acts as master of ceremonies throughout the event. As a good communicator, you know some useful tricks: Start with a good personal story to hook attendees. He tells how when he was little a friend gave him a computer and he slept with the machine next to him, like a stuffed animal, because he was afraid that that treasure would be stolen.
Joaquín Cuenca, CEO of Freepik, announcing the launch of the new collaborative service on his platform, called Freepik Spaces.
Then it comes Joaquin Cuencafounder and CEO of Freepik, who focuses his message on something important: this is not about human creativity versus artificial creativity, but what is truly powerful is combining them. “Freepik is at the intersection between humans and AI,” he explains, making it clear that “humans must continue to be at the wheel.”
He also gives advice for the new (and old) creative: “Stay unique. Be interesting.” That inaugural talk includes an important announcement, and Cuenca takes the opportunity to present a new and ambitious service: Freepik Spacesa promising collaborative tool to make the development of creative ideas much more powerful.
Isabelita Virtual was one of the discoveries of the event. A brilliant personal and professional reinvention.
And from there, a cast of professionals reel off their particular proposals with greater or lesser success. There are disappointing talks that fortunately are seen compensated with other surprising and inspiringlike those of the aforementioned PJ Accetturo (you can see it on YouTube), Marten Kuipers (here) or Virtual Isabelita (also available here). The same thing happened with workshops: while some did not compensate, others like those of Laura Pin or Elena Berjillos (Freepik) fulfilled the basic promise of any workshop: that of learning things. And certainly those two examples were really interesting and instructive.
But this, we insist, is a lot about networking. The venue – Sohrlin Andalucia, of which Antonio Banderas is a founding partner – has areas set up for precisely that. The large central hall bustles almost all the time with conversations and demonstrations from various companies in the sector, and in addition to breaks—sorry, coffee breaks— there is a break to eat pokes, hamburgers and Argentine empanadas while everyone comments on the play.
And when the first day ends, there is room for leisure if the body still holds out: a DJ precedes the spectacular performance of Mind Enterprises, that Italian duo that went viral with its wonderfully retro-tinged dance music.
And after the development of the second and before leaving, I took the opportunity to ask some of the attendees if they had attended the first edition and how they compared it with the second.
The answer is again uniform: Upscale Conf is “bigger” nowand it also looks “more professional”, more done. A logical evolution in an event that is gaining strength and that seems to demonstrate that, indeed, (creative) AI is here to stay.
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