The AI Conversation Has Changed

What a conversation with an in-house producer at Anomaly and a freelance agency producer revealed about where our industry is headed.

A year ago, nearly every conversation about AI centered on the technology itself. Would it replace photographers? Was it ethical? Could clients trust it? Should agencies even be using it?

Those questions haven’t disappeared, but after sitting down with Senior Art Producer Madi Nauta of Anomaly and freelance Art Producer Denise Knickerbocker for the latest episode of Community Table, it became clear that the conversation has fundamentally changed.

At the beginning of our discussion, my co-host, Kelly Montez, and I shared why we wanted to gather around the table once again.

“This isn’t about whether AI is good or bad. It’s about understanding what people are actually encountering. We’re here to listen, to learn, and to better understand what this moment looks like from where you sit.”

That mindset shaped the entire conversation.

No one was trying to predict the future or claim they had all the answers. Instead, we listened to people who are navigating AI every day; working with clients, artists, legal teams, and business affairs as this technology rapidly changes the creative landscape.

What emerged wasn’t another debate about AI. It was something much more interesting. The questions have become more nuanced, more practical and more human. Perhaps that’s the biggest shift of all.

AI Is No Longer the Experiment

One of the biggest takeaways from our conversation was just how AI has become part of everyday agency life.

It’s helping creatives build visual concepts. It’s streamlining decks and presentations. Producers are using it to organize information, develop storyboards, explore locations, and improve internal workflows. In some cases, it’s beginning to show up in post-production.

Listening to Madi and Denise, what struck me wasn’t how revolutionary any one application was. It was how ordinary AI has become. Rather than existing as a separate initiative, it’s quietly being woven into creative workflows across departments.

That doesn’t mean AI is replacing creative work. It means it’s becoming another tool in the creative process.

For artists, that’s an important distinction. The conversation is no longer about whether clients will use AI. Many already are. The more important question is where it adds value, where it doesn’t, and where artists continue to bring something technology cannot.

Producers Have Become Translators

One observation came up again and again throughout our discussion. Agency producers have become translators.They’re translating between clients and artists. Between creatives and legal teams. Between business affairs and production. Between what technology can do and what it should do.

Madi described agency producers as being caught in the middle:

“You’re kind of the messenger of all these things, hoping that each party understands where the other is coming from.”

Clients don’t always understand artists’ concerns around ownership and AI learning. Artists are thinking deeply about protecting their work. Legal teams are trying to build guardrails while the technology continues to evolve.

Somewhere in the middle are producers, helping everyone understand one another. It’s a role that barely existed a few years ago. Today, it may be one of the most important jobs in our industry.

The Hardest Conversations Aren’t About AI

Ironically, the more we talked about AI, the less we actually talked about AI. Instead, we found ourselves discussing derivative works, work-for-hire, ownership, usage, indemnification, and business affairs. The technology may be moving at lightning speed, but the real work is happening in the conversations surrounding it.

One of the biggest challenges today is that our industry is trying to apply old legal frameworks to entirely new technology.

As Kelly pointed out,

“We can’t necessarily apply a standard to something that never existed before.”

For decades, concepts like work for hire had well-understood meanings. A client could own the finished deliverable, but no one imagined that the same images might one day be used to train AI models, generate entirely new content, or create an endless stream of derivative works.

AI changes that. It forces us to revisit assumptions we never imagined we’d have to question.

Later in the conversation, Kelly distilled the issue into one sentence that is worth remembering:

“We have to be able to keep our sauce secret so that you want to hire us in the future.”

I love the simplicity of that statement because it gets to the heart of what many artists are trying to protect. This isn’t about resisting innovation. It’s about ensuring that the creative expertise clients hire today doesn’t become the very thing that replaces the need to hire them tomorrow.

Education Has Become Everyone’s Job

When I asked Madi and Denise what they expected the rest of the year to look like, both answered almost identically.

Education. Not learning prompts.Not mastering the latest software.

-Educating clients, agencies and artists.

-Understanding legal implications.

-Learning new terminology.

-Having better conversations.

Madi put it simply:

“It’s going to be a lot more conversations…and a lot more education.”

That struck me because no one around the table claimed to have all the answers. Instead, there was a shared willingness to admit we’re all learning together. That’s exactly where our industry needs to be.

Authenticity Isn’t Losing Value. It’s Gaining It.

One of my favorite moments came when we shifted away from contracts and technology and started talking about craft.

Madi shared how committed Anomaly remains to creating authentic work in-camera whenever possible.

“People do appreciate real things and things that were made with our hands.”

Denise mentioned something she’s beginning to see in the marketplace:

“I’ve seen disclaimers that say, ‘No AI was used to create this.’ I love that.”

That resonated with something I’ve been noticing as well.

During the conversation I shared my belief that technology often moves like a pendulum.

“I believe in the pendulum.”

We’re already seeing photographers return to shooting on film for personal projects. Clients are asking for work that feels unmistakably human. Craftsmanship is becoming part of the value proposition again. AI isn’t making authenticity obsolete. If anything, it’s making it more valuable.

The Future Looks More Collaborative Than Competitive

One theme surprised me more than any other. Neither producer described a future where photographers disappear.

Instead, they described photographers being brought into AI projects earlier; helping define lighting, directing talent, creating practical elements that AI can build upon, and collaborating with AI artists rather than competing against them.

Earlier in the conversation, Denise described exactly that approach:

“Bring the photographer in from the get-go…that collaboration is definitely very important.”

That feels much more realistic than the headlines suggesting AI will simply replace creative professionals.

In fact, one concern I raised during the discussion needs emphasis.

“Our artists used to be brought in to collaborate…they’re not being invited into the room right now.”

That, to me, is the real opportunity. Not to resist AI. But to ensure artists remain part of the conversation early enough that their creative expertise shapes what gets made. Because the question isn’t whether AI will be part of the creative process. It already is. The question is whether artists are invited to help shape that process or simply asked to react to it after the fact.

Curiosity May Be the Most Valuable Skill of All

By the end of our conversation, none of us had solved AI. If anything, we’d uncovered even more questions. And strangely, that felt encouraging.

The conversation wasn’t driven by fear. It wasn’t driven by certainty. It was driven by curiosity.

Kelly shared that one of her words for the year is curiosity. Without missing a beat, Denise smiled and replied, “That’s my word as well.” I couldn’t think of a better way to end the conversation.

Our industry has always adapted to new technology. Digital cameras replaced film. Websites replaced printed portfolios. CGI transformed production. Each shift forced us to rethink how we worked while reminding us why creativity matters in the first place.

AI is simply the next chapter. The technology will continue to evolve. The contracts will evolve. The workflows will evolve. The business models will evolve. But what can’t be automated is the willingness to ask hard questions, collaborate openly, and protect the creative community while embracing new possibilities.

If there’s one thing I took away from this conversation, it’s that our industry’s greatest strength isn’t having all the answers. It’s having people who are willing to ask better questions.

If this conversation resonates with you, I hope you’ll listen to the full episode of Community Table. Hearing Madi, Denise, Kelly, and so many thoughtful voices work through these issues together reminded me that while AI may be changing how we create, it’s the conversations we have with one another that will ultimately determine where we go next.

That’s a future worth showing up for.