Every day, millions of prompts are typed into dark-mode text boxes. The output appears, gets two seconds of attention, isn’t quite right, and gets regenerated.
Creative industry aside, everyone is at it: Make Dad bald, put funky glasses on the cat, turn my old banger into a Lamborghini. Generate it, laugh at it, send it, forget it.
AI is talked about as a technological revolution, but much of what is produced in daily life is disposable. Generative content is starting to look like the digital equivalent of single-use plastic. We hear concerns around water, energy, land and infrastructure, yet still casually type another throwaway prompt into the slop machine.
Traditional production always carried physical and financial cost. In commercials, film and TV, the friction of locations, talent, budget and kit bred intention. When I started directing on 16mm and 35mm, focus was dialled to 11 the second you heard that rhythmic hum of film running through the gate. It meant one thing: money. Every second counted. Every setup mattered. You had to decide before you rolled what was going to happen, where and why. Expense didn’t guarantee quality, but constraint forced commitment.
Generative AI has removed much of that friction. That is part of its brilliance, and part of its trap. When another image or video costs almost nothing, why not make one, then another, then twenty, then two hundred? This is where a robust creative and production pipeline matters. On a film set, you don’t pack up saying, “We like the take we never shot.” You leave with 20 takes knowing one will make the edit. AI can generate another 20 takes on a whim, but if the creative and pre-production are right, you should be generating toward an intention, not searching randomly for one.
Yes, technical glitches and hallucinations need reruns, but subjective creative decisions? In traditional production, once the wardrobe is worn and the location wrapped, you don’t casually decide to change them and reshoot. So, why allow that lack of discipline into professional AI pipelines?
This is where real direction becomes indispensable. A skilled director or creative team doesn’t wait to see what the machine gives back. They arrive prepared: research, treatment, character breakdowns, visual language, and a clear ambition before hitting the prompt box.
Make your cat videos. Increase your biceps. Put your mate behind bars to terrify their parents. But for serious creative work, put in the prep time, construct your vision before you generate it, and together we can reduce the trash in the bin.
