Technically Creative by KoobrikLabs

In this episode of Technically Creative, Orlando Wood sits down with Justine Armour, Chief Creative Officer of 72andSunny International, for a conversation about AI, advertising, creativity, taste, originality and the future of creative work.

As generative AI makes it possible to produce more ideas, images, advertising and content than ever before, Justine argues that the most valuable creative skill may no longer be the ability to make more. It may be knowing what not to make.

Her argument is fascinating: AI is already very good at producing work that is acceptable. Work that is pretty good. Work that lives in the middle. But culture has never moved forward from the middle. It moves because of outliers, divergent thinkers and people with enough conviction to pursue ideas that initially make everyone else uncomfortable.

And that means taste may become more valuable in the age of AI, not less.

After nearly 30 years in advertising, including leadership roles at some of the world's most celebrated creative agencies, Justine believes experience, discernment and the ability to recognize an extraordinary idea are becoming increasingly important. In a world of infinite creative possibility, the advantage belongs to people who can tell the difference between something that's merely good and something genuinely original.

But this conversation goes well beyond AI.

Justine talks candidly about creative leadership, agency culture, collaboration, burnout, failure and the importance of remaining human inside an industry becoming increasingly automated.

We explore how 72andSunny builds a collaborative creative culture, why consensus can sometimes push advertising toward mediocrity, and why creative leaders need to create environments where unusual ideas have enough space to survive.

Justine also reflects on stepping away from advertising after more than two decades of pushing herself relentlessly, what that experience taught her about creativity and leadership, and why reconnecting with instinct and creative energy changed the way she works.

And for the next generation of creatives entering advertising during the AI revolution, her advice is surprisingly clear.

Learn the tools.

But don't let the tools define your taste.

“Reject the algorithm, reject the averaging of yourself.”

Because if AI can increasingly reproduce what's already familiar, originality, obsession, cultural curiosity and a genuinely individual point of view become the things that separate one creative from everyone else.

In this episode:

• AI and the future of advertising and creative agencies

• Why generative AI makes taste and discernment more valuable

• Why “the middle” may lose value as AI-generated content increases

• How creative leaders identify truly original ideas

• AI tools including Midjourney, Runway and Luma

• Why AI-generated advertising can still fail at craft

• Creativity, collaboration and consensus inside advertising agencies

• The changing role of copywriters, art directors and creative departments

• Why young creatives need to develop taste beyond social media algorithms

• 72andSunny's approach to creative culture and collaboration

• Independent agencies and the changing economics of advertising

• Burnout, creative leadership and Justine's decision to step away

• Why failure can make creative leaders better

• What the next generation of advertising talent should learn about AI

• Why originality may become the ultimate creative advantage

If you're interested in artificial intelligence, advertising, generative AI, creative leadership, agency culture, branding, marketing, creative careers or the future of creativity, this is a conversation about what becomes valuable when the ability to simply make things is no longer scarce.

Technically Creative is a technology podcast for people who don't necessarily think of themselves as tech people, exploring how AI and technology are changing film, television, advertising, publishing, media and the creative industries.

Visit KoobrikLabs:
https://koobriklabs.com

Connect with Orlando Wood:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlando-wood/

#ArtificialIntelligence #Advertising #GenerativeAI #Creativity #CreativeLeadership #72andSunny #JustineArmour #FutureOfAdvertising #AIAdvertising #TechnicallyCreative

Weekly AI news for the creative industries. Every Monday, Technically Creative brings you a fast, opinionated recap of the biggest stories in artificial intelligence, entertainment, media and technology from the week just gone, and what they mean for the week ahead.
This is a new kind of episode for Technically Creative. Alongside our usual interviews with leaders across film, television, advertising, technology and the creative industries, Orlando Wood will now start each week with a short AI Week in Review, designed for anyone trying to keep up with an industry that seems to change every five minutes.
For the week ending August 28, 2026, the AI debate is getting considerably more complicated.
Hollywood leaders including Kathleen Kennedy have been quietly discussing how the industry should distinguish between generative AI, machine-learning tools and genuinely human-controlled creative workflows.
Meanwhile, the music industry is simultaneously investing in AI and fighting it in court. Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music are backing Stability AI, while music publishers pursue copyright litigation against Anthropic. The emerging dividing line may not be AI versus artists, but licensed AI versus unlicensed AI.
We also look at why Luminate’s new system for identifying AI-generated music could make metadata, attribution and provenance some of the most important infrastructure in the creative economy, and what Nvidia’s reported interest in acquiring Hugging Face could mean for open-source AI and the wider technology ecosystem.
The bigger question connecting all of these stories is whether “AI: good or bad?” has stopped being a particularly useful debate.
What kind of AI is being used? Who controls it? What was it trained on? Was the material licensed? Is it augmenting creative people or replacing them? Who owns the output? And who gets paid?
Technically Creative: Week in Review is a weekly guide to the AI news, arguments and technology shaping Hollywood, entertainment and the creative industries.
AI news, weekly AI news, generative AI, artificial intelligence, AI in Hollywood, AI entertainment, AI and creativity, creative industries, AI copyright, AI ethics, AI backlash, AI criticism, artists vs AI, AI replacing jobs, AI job loss, creator rights, artist rights, AI regulation, AI filmmaking, AI music, future of work, future of entertainment, media technology, Technically Creative

SAG-AFTRA on AI: Who Owns Your Face, Voice & Performance?

🤝 Presented in Partnership with the Future of Life Institute

This episode is part of a special series presented in partnership with the Future of Life Institute (FLI).

Throughout Season 4 of Technically Creative, we're exploring some of the biggest questions surrounding artificial intelligence, creativity, copyright, performer rights, AI safety, and responsible innovation.

Learn more about the Future of Life Institute:

📺 YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@futureoflifeinstitute/

🌐 Website
https://futureoflife.org/

🎭 AI, Actors & Hollywood's Biggest Conversation

In this episode of Technically Creative, Orlando Wood sits down with Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, to explore one of the biggest questions facing the creative industries today:

Who owns your face, your voice, and your performance in the age of AI?

As artificial intelligence transforms filmmaking, television, advertising, gaming and digital media, performers are facing entirely new questions around AI actors, digital replicas, voice cloning, copyright, consent, likeness rights and ownership.

Duncan has been at the center of those conversations, leading SAG-AFTRA's negotiations on AI protections and helping shape one of Hollywood's most important agreements for the future of creative work.

But what makes this conversation so interesting is that it isn't about stopping AI.

It's about making sure AI develops in a way that respects creators, protects human performance, and gives performers meaningful control over their identity.

Throughout the discussion, Duncan shares a refreshingly pragmatic perspective. Technology isn't the enemy. The challenge is building the legal, ethical and commercial frameworks that allow innovation to flourish while ensuring the people whose creativity powers this industry remain in control of how they're represented.

Highlights

• How SAG-AFTRA negotiated landmark AI protections for performers

• Who owns your face, voice and digital likeness in the age of AI?

• Why consent is becoming the foundation of AI creativity

• How voice cloning and digital replicas are changing Hollywood

• What actors, filmmakers and studios need to understand about AI contracts

• Why Duncan believes AI should augment human creativity, not replace it

• The future of acting, entertainment and storytelling in an AI-powered world

Whether you're an actor, filmmaker, producer, creative director, entertainment executive, lawyer, or anyone interested in AI, Hollywood, copyright, performer rights and creative technology, this conversation offers one of the clearest and most balanced discussions you'll hear anywhere on where the industry is heading.

This conversation is part of our ongoing series with the Future of Life Institute exploring the ethical, legal, and creative questions shaping the future of artificial intelligence.

👉 Subscribe for more conversations about AI, creativity, entertainment, filmmaking and the future of creative work.

Visit KoobrikLabs
https://koobriklabs.com

Connect with Orlando
https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlando-wood/

Chapters

[00:00] Who Owns Your Face?

[04:10] Why SAG-AFTRA Didn't Try to Stop AI

[11:20] Digital Replicas, Voice Cloning & Consent

[21:15] Negotiating Hollywood's AI Agreement

[33:40] Copyright, Contracts & Human Performance

[46:30] The Future of Acting in an AI World

[58:10] Why Human Creativity Still Matters

#ArtificialIntelligence #SAGAFTRA #AIActors #Hollywood #VoiceCloning #DigitalReplica #Copyright #AIEthics #FutureOfLifeInstitute #TechnicallyCreative #KoobrikLabs

🌍 Learn More About the Future of Life Institute
The Future of Life Institute (FLI) is a nonprofit organization working to help ensure that transformative technologies, including artificial intelligence, benefit humanity while reducing catastrophic and existential risks. Through research, policy, public education, and collaboration, FLI brings together scientists, policymakers, technologists, and creators to help shape a safer future.
📺 Future of Life Institute on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@futureoflifeinstitute/
🌐 Official Website
https://futureoflife.org/
If these conversations resonate with you, I highly recommend subscribing to their channel and exploring the work they're doing.
🎙️ Why We're Partnering with the Future of Life Institute
This isn't just a sponsorship announcement.
It's an explanation of where I stand.
I'm incredibly proud to announce that Season 4 of Technically Creative is partnering with the Future of Life Institute (FLI), a nonprofit dedicated to helping ensure that transformative technologies like artificial intelligence benefit humanity while thoughtfully addressing the risks they create.
Over the last few years, I've been called a hypocrite more times than I can count.
Why?
Because I believe the wholesale training of AI models on copyrighted creative work represents the largest copyright theft in history... and yet I also spend my career building AI products and helping creative companies adopt these technologies.
To some people, those positions seem impossible to reconcile.
I don't think they are.
I believe we can acknowledge that artists were treated unfairly and recognize that AI is now part of our creative future.
We can celebrate innovation while demanding better conversations around copyright, consent, compensation, creator rights, AI ethics, safety, risk, and responsible adoption.
That's what Technically Creative has always been about.
Not choosing a side.
Creating a place where the difficult conversations can happen.
That's why partnering with the Future of Life Institute feels so natural.
Throughout Season 4, you'll hear a series of special conversations exploring AI ethics, copyright, performer rights, creative ownership, AI safety, responsible innovation, and the future of creativity alongside conversations with the founders, engineers, artists, and companies building these technologies.
We're not here to tell you AI will save the world.
We're not here to tell you AI will destroy it.
We're here to talk to the people who are actually wrestling with what happens next
In this video
• Why Technically Creative partnered with the Future of Life Institute
• Why I reject the "fair use" argument for AI training
• Why I've been called a hypocrite
• Why I still build AI products
• How creative companies should think about AI adoption
• Why copyright, consent, compensation and creativity belong in the same conversation
• What responsible AI innovation actually looks like
Whether you're an artist, filmmaker, writer, musician, creative director, entrepreneur, policymaker, or AI builder, this conversation is about finding a path that protects creativity while embracing technological progress.
📺 Subscribe for more conversations about Artificial Intelligence, AI Ethics, Copyright, Creative Industries, Entertainment, Responsible Innovation, Creator Rights, and the Future of Creativity.
Visit KoobrikLabs
https://koobriklabs.com
Connect with Orlando
https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlando-wood/
#ArtificialIntelligence #AIEthics #FutureOfLifeInstitute #Copyright #ResponsibleAI #CreativeIndustries #TechnicallyCreative #KoobrikLabs

Can AI Create a Cannes-Winning Commercial?
Watch these films before you answer.
🎥 The RealReal (Silver Cannes Lion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MORj7Cn1Wo0
🎥 Gaia
https://shots.net/news/view/gaia-exposes-dairys-hidden-heartbreak
If you're a creative company looking to future-proof your business, book a free consultation call at
👉 https://koobriklabs.com/contact/
🎬 AI Filmmaking, Cannes Lions & Creative Craft — Don't Miss This One
In this episode of Technically Creative, Orlando Wood sits down with Sebastian Strasser, one of advertising's most celebrated commercial directors and founder of Lipstick, alongside Sascha Peuckert, Executive Producer at Team One, to explore one of the biggest questions facing the creative industries today:
Can AI produce truly world-class creative work?
For the last few years, much of the conversation around AI filmmaking and AI advertising has focused on what the technology supposedly can't do.
Then came The RealReal.
Winner of a Silver Cannes Lion, it's one of the first end-to-end AI commercials that genuinely feels like the work of a master filmmaker. It doesn't just demonstrate what AI can do. It demonstrates what happens when extraordinary creative talent embraces extraordinary new tools.
Then came Gaia.
A film that's emotional, cinematic and deeply human. It proves something many people still question: AI doesn't remove emotion from storytelling. In the hands of great artists, it can become another way to express it.
This isn't a conversation about prompting.
It's a conversation about craft.
About directing.
About taste.
About authorship.
And about why the future of AI filmmaking won't be defined by the people who learned AI first. It'll be defined by the people who've spent decades mastering storytelling.
Highlights
• How The RealReal became one of the first AI commercials to win a Cannes Lion
• Why Gaia proves AI can create genuine emotional storytelling
• The difference between prompting and directing
• Why craft, taste and authorship matter more than ever
• How AI is changing commercial production
• What agencies, brands and filmmakers can learn from these groundbreaking films
If you're a filmmaker, creative director, producer, agency leader, or simply fascinated by AI filmmaking, commercial directing, advertising production and creative technology, this episode is one of the clearest conversations yet about where creative work is heading.
👉 Subscribe for more conversations about AI, advertising, filmmaking and the future of creative work.
Visit KoobrikLabs: https://koobriklabs.com
Connect with Orlando: https://www.linkedin.com/in/orlando-wood/
Chapters
[00:00] Can AI Create a Cannes-Winning Commercial?
[04:12] The RealReal: Inside an AI Cannes Lion Winner
[12:40] Why Great Craft Still Wins
[22:18] Directing vs Prompting
[31:55] Building an AI Production Workflow
[42:30] Gaia and the Power of Emotion
[52:15] The Future of AI Filmmaking
#AIFilmmaking #AIAdvertising #GenerativeAI #CannesLions #CommercialDirector #SebastianStrasser #CreativeTechnology #Advertising #Filmmaking #TechnicallyCreative #KoobrikLabs