A tech expert in the content industry for more than two decades has told young creatives to “jump on board with AI”.
James Pierechod, 45, stressed the importance of embracing artificial intelligence to students at Leeds Trinity University’s 17th Journalism and Media Week.
“I’m all in on AI,” he said. “Photography made painting accessible. Social media made photography accessible. Now, AI is making content creation accessible.
“Jump on board with AI, and you’re already a step ahead.”
James has been in the technology industry for 25 years. He started out as an engineer, before turning to media and advertising.
Since 2023, he has worked as an AI consultant and non-executive director for Tungsten Media, a Leeds-based video production company specialising in AI visuals.
The studio uses AI to automate entry-level production jobs such as rotoscoping, visual effects and motion capture. This eliminates “churn work”, James said.
“It used to take weeks to complete a scene,” he added. “With AI, it takes minutes.”
According to James, “83 percent” of creatives are already integrating AI into their work. There has also been a “170 percent increase” in generative AI featuring in job descriptions.
This is part of the reason, he said, why it is important for young people to be “open and adaptable” to AI.
“Stop waiting for permission to use these tools. Get involved in AI – try, try, try,” he said. “When we get rid of the churn, we’re left with creativity.
“Realising this is super powerful in getting your dream job, because it’s the way it’s going to go.”
James touched on the disadvantages of AI usage, specifically within the context of creative industries.
He pinpointed over-reliance on language models, such as ChatGPT and Claude, as one of the biggest risks.
“A huge danger is that you can get really lazy, really quickly. If you bypass [the creative process] and run straight to the end result with AI, it’s the project that suffers,” he said.
“AI isn’t your slave,” he added. “It’s the companion that helps join the ‘experience and expertise’ dots. Use AI as a thinking partner.”
He encouraged students to continue to “learn creative principles” such as “light, colour, composition and strategy”, and to build a portfolio “across disciplines”.
“Craft isn’t dead,” he said. “Companies like Aardman still use stop-motion, for example. But their creative style is underpinned by more AI than you would ever believe.
“They build their characters and their backgrounds using CGI or AI. This means less people, more options, and ultimately leads to the creation of more films.”