From Pixels to Masterpieces: AI in Art and Advertising – Interview with Ramón Castillo | Festina Lente - Your leading source of AI news | Turtles AI

From Pixels to Masterpieces: AI in Art and Advertising – Interview with Ramón Castillo
Ramón Castillo: Passionate creative, graphic designer, technology lover, draws with words, creating virtual worlds - an Exclusive Interview for Turtle’s AI about Skepticism, Mastery, and More
DukeRem14 October 2024

In this exclusive interview for Turtle’s AI, we are honored to introduce Ramón Castillo, a creative expert who has embraced technology to elevate his artistic process over the past 20 years. With a background in graphic design and a passion for both visual and conceptual creativity, Ramón became one of the early adopters of AI as a tool for artistic expression.

He explains how AI has reshaped his approach to creativity, opening new possibilities while addressing important ethical considerations. From his beginnings in traditional advertising to his current work with AI, Ramón shares how this technology has rekindled his passion for art.

In this interview, he offers his insights into how AI is influencing the future of the creative industry. He was kind enough to send us some of his works to share with our readers, among which a wonderful turtle stands out. All of the pictures are of their author, Ramón Castillo and can’t be used without his explicit permission.

Please read on and be sure to follow him on LinkedIn!

1. Can you please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us about your early career in traditional advertising, your artistic training, and the influences that shaped your creative style before incorporating AI?

I’m a rare advertising creative. Although I trained as a graphic designer, I always loved writing. Therefore, when I entered advertising I was able to tackle both the visual and the conceptual part of the campaign. For more than 20 years I have been working on ideas that combine creativity and technology. Also in this aspect I have been quite atypical and I have always been very interested in innovation. I worked in one of the first digital agencies in my country and now I think I have also been one of the first creatives to embrace the use of AI as a tool at the service of creativity. At the level of influences they are varied and extensive, but in general the ideas that inspire me most are those that have the capacity to excite and treat the viewer as an intelligent being.

 

 

2. When did you first become interested in using AI in your creative process? Was there a specific moment or project that sparked this interest?

My interest in AI comes from curiosity. As I have already mentioned, I have always been very interested in digital and its use in the field of creativity. As a creator of communication pieces and content I am always vigilant in all the innovations that are appearing. That’s how I came to generative AI.

 

 

3. How has your creative process evolved since you started using AI? What are the most noticeable changes in your output?

The truth is that it has been a before and after. I would highlight changes in three fundamental areas: inspiration or search for ideas, here AI offers many possibilities and deactivates the blocking effect of blank paper; secondly, layout, it allows us to créate mockups or sketches of ideas very reliably and quickly; and finally, in the execution phase, it allows us to create very reliable images or illustrations that can perfectly be the center of our campaign.

 

 

4. Could you describe some of the "traditional" projects you worked on before adopting AI? How do you think AI could have influenced them if it had been available? As I mentioned in the previous question, AI has come to drastically change many aspects of the creative process, but above all I think it has a fundamental influence in two areas: in terms of capabilities (you can do things you couldn’t do before) and in terms of execution times (deadlines are significantly reduced). Although in this last aspect I would like to deactivate a myth about AI: it consists of writing a sentence, pressing a button and waiting 1 minute to create pieces. This is not true.

 

 

5. Do you find that AI expands your creative possibilities, or does it primarily streamline your workflow? What balance do you strive for between automation and manual creativity?

I believe automation is the enemy of creativity. So surely, if we talk about applying generative AI to ideas, it’s not so much about sublimating processes as it is about sublimating criteria. I’ll use an example. If I am a photographer and I have a very clear idea of the image my client needs, I will make all the decisions that guarantee me that result: location, casting, lighting, outfit, lens, camera, etc... Well, now with AI, I can recreate all that in an image without leaving the studio. Then we’ll decide if I still take the photo or not, but in a couple of hours I can have a simulation very close to the final result. But for that to happen, I need to have all the criteria and knowledge of a good photographer. AI in the hands of people with criteria and creativity is much more powerful.

 

 

6. How do you manage legal and ethical concerns when it comes to image rights in AI-generated art? What are your strategies to address issues of ownership and intellectual property?

I explain very well to my clients the ethical and legal situation we are in and warn them of the risks and possibilities. The legislation is still very little and I believe that in this sense there will be changes as the years go by. I believe that it will be so easy to create high quality visual content that perhaps our relationship with the management of the rights of this type of creations will change. If it is so easy to make your own image, it will not be necessary to steal or copy from others. In the field of copyrights on artists’ style I think we should have an ethical attitude and it does not deserve to use AI to copy. I never use artista names in my prompts.

 

 

7. Do you feel more empowered creatively since using AI, or has it introduced new limitations? How do you ensure that your unique style remains distinct while using generative tools?

As I have already explained I believe that AI gives us more capabilities than we had without it. All at once I am a solvent illustrator, a solvent photographer and even an acceptable 3D modeler without being specialized in those disciplines. The limitations revolve around one main aspect, the control we can have of the tool. Each time it improves its level of understanding of natural language, but that is the big challenge. Finally, I believe that style is something that should permeate the work of any artist based on his ideas and his way of understanding the world. The tool used is the least important thing. What you tell is what is relevant, the ability to move and connect with the viewer is what makes the difference.

 

 

8. How is AI transforming the creative industry in advertising? What areas do you think are still underexplored in this realm?

I think we are still at the beginning of the adoption of this technology by creative professionals. There is still a lot of mistrust, an incipient legislative landscape and a very limited knowledge of the tools by agencies and studios. Large multinationals are very cautious and still fear possible complaints or problems with rights. So they are opening the door to AI very slowly. I suppose that with the passage of time it will become more widespread and will mean a profound transformation in the way of working, both in the phase of inspiration or conceptualization and in execution.

 

 

9. What kind of training is essential for creatives looking to work with AI tools? How do you prepare students at the Barcelona School of Creativity for these emerging technologies?

There are two phases, firstly getting to know and control the tools. This is not a very long learning curve, but a necessary one. I compare it to solfège in music. You have to know how to read and write music to be able to play an instrument very well. And secondly, there is specialization, that is, depending on the creative application that each profesional needs to find the most appropriate work flow. At the school we try to describe this scenario and provide design and creativity professionals with everything they need to perform well in it. It is not the same to create a portrait, a packaging or a reel.

 

 

10. Some argue that AI lacks the emotional depth of human-generated art. How do you respond to those concerns, especially as someone who blends AI with personal creativity?

I believe that we are facing a new tool that allows us to channel our ideas and give them an outlet. The questioning of disruptive technologies throughout history is cyclical. It happened with the camera or the computer, to cite two examples. We don’t like the new, it seems to us that it dehumanizes art, but then time puts things in their place. Today no one dares to say that a photo taken with a digital camera and developed with software is not art. Or that Pixar’s film “Wall-e” is not a masterpiece of cinema even if it is made by computer. I think the same thing will happen with AI.

 

 

11. What strategies do you use to overcome creative blocks when working with AI? Does the technology offer unique solutions to these challenges, or can it sometimes complicate the process?

It’s always a help. It allows you to have first starting ideas, even if they are vague, to turn off the blank paper block. No more sitting in a room staring at the ceiling to see if inspiration comes. It gives us the opportunity to think from a conversation of questions and answers, or proposals and validations. It’s dynamic creativity, like good brainstorming methods, where one leads to another and so on and so forth you find the best way.

 

 

12. What potential do you see in AI for shaping other artistic mediums like sculpture, animation, or film? Which medium do you think holds the most exciting prospects for AI integration?

I think it’s going to have a place in any creative process. We can get it wrong very quickly. And that’s gold for the world of ideas. Processes are shortened, so we’re much closer to being able to evaluate the value of ideas and how well they work. Prototyping is almost immediate. This is not always a good thing, but it presents us with very interesting challenges.

 

 

13. Have you encountered any legal roadblocks regarding AI-generated content? How do you keep yourself informed about evolving regulations and ethical standards in this space?

So far I have not experienced any delicate situation with my work, nor do I know any colleague who has suffered from it. But it’s true that there have been some uncomfortable situations, to say the least. People who have won photography awards using AI and have not said so, or creations using images with rights by public agencies. In terms of information, I try to collect everything that is published on the subject and it’s true that in the community of AI creators we try to share as much information as possible.

 

 

14. What advice would you give to traditional artists who are hesitant or even skeptical about incorporating AI into their workflow?

I think everything is respectable. I have the feeling that there is an excessive hype around AI. There is no need for everyone to use it. It would be like forcing all artists to use oil painting for example. It seems to me that artists are curious by nature and I understand that trying new things should be a healthy practice for any creator. Then it’s just a matter of whether you feel comfortable with it and discover how it can be useful to you.

 

 

15. Can you describe a specific project where AI significantly altered your approach or the final outcome? How did that change your perception of its role in your work?

From the beginning that has been what has happened. AI has made a difference in terms of being able to materialize what I had thought of. I have many examples, from personal projects where I try to bring crazy ideas to reality, like for example luxury bags made of pasta or Ikea making furniture for boats; to real projects for brands, like the last campaign I developed for DO Somontano, an appellation of origin of a Spanish wine, where we imagined how the wine glasses of great personalities of humanity would look like.

 

 

16. To what extent do you rely on experimentation when using AI tools? Does the trial-and-error process fuel your creativity, or does it present challenges?

Absolutely. That’s one of the advantages of this technology. You can make mistakes quickly and practically painlessly. Besides, it remains to be seen whether what we call “error” does not give rise to a language of its own capable of provoking us.

 

 

17. What are the risks of becoming overly dependent on AI in creative fields, and how do you guard against the homogenization of your artistic voice?

I believe that judgment is fundamental. This tool is much more powerful if whoever is at the controls knows about creativity, aesthetics, composition, photography, etc... Besides, that is what guarantees you to go beyond the conventional, to squeeze the most out of the model and get different results. I imagine that if we all do the same, nobody will hire us. On the other hand, as always in art, the important thing is what you say and how you say it, not so much the tools you use. If what makes the difference in your work is a tool, you’re dead, because anyone can learn to use it. Either you are a virtuoso or you make the difference with ideas.

 

 

18. Which AI tools or platforms do you find most effective for your work, and how do you choose the right one for different projects?

At the moment my favorite tool is Midjourney, but I really believe that we will all end up creating a workflow that will involve using a set of different tools that allow us to get the results we are looking for. I currently use Chatgpt, Runway, Kling, Elevenlabs or Heygen to name a few.

 

 

19. Do you believe AI will eventually create truly original art, or will it always require human intervention to be meaningful?

I honestly don’t know. But playing at being a fortune teller, I think its possibilities are immense and as has happened with other disruptive technologies, it’s very likely that artists will adopt generative AI as a means to express themselves.

 

 

20. Looking ahead, how do you see AI transforming the creative industry as a whole? Do you anticipate a greater fusion of art and technology, or will there be boundaries that AI can’t cross?

I don’t see limitations, it seems to me that it is one of those phenomena that will change or revolutionize many disciplines, including art. In the same way I bet for a coexistence with traditional artistic expressions, I don’t believe in the absolute dominance of any technology in any field. I would love it to happen as with the e-book, which coexists in a totally healthy and natural way with the paper book. 

 

 

20+1. Is there anything else that you’d like to add about you, your art, generativeAI or...anything else?

I would like the drift of generative AI to leave this course of supporters and detractors, of people who blindly defend it and conversely, of people who attack it without knowing it. Hopefully we will be able to regulate what is necessary and give a path to a technology that I believe, if well used, can be an incredible leap forward, I dare say, for humanity.