Artist Behind Disney and Nike AR Work Says AI Is Flooding the World With Low-Quality Content

This exclusive interview with Doddz was conducted by Tabish Ali of the Motivational Speakers Agency.

Doddz does not treat technology as the story. He treats it as a way to make people feel something.

The multi-award-winning augmented reality artist has built a career around turning physical artwork into digital experiences that move, react and invite audiences inside the story.

As founder and creative director of DIME, he has created immersive work for global names including Disney, Nike, Sony, Amazon, Dior and The Beatles, while his projects have been exhibited in London, Manchester and Shanghai.

Now a creativity expert, Doddz argues that AI, data and mixed reality only matter when they serve emotion. His view is blunt: technology should disappear into the background, leaving the audience with wonder, connection and a reason to care.

In this exclusive interview with the London Keynote Speakers Agency, Doddz explains how storytelling changes when art moves between physical and digital worlds, why AI should be treated like a paintbrush rather than a replacement for human imagination, and how brands can use creativity without losing the soul of the work.

Question 1. When art can now move between a gallery wall, a phone screen and mixed reality, how does that change the way you tell a story?

Doddz: “There are a couple of advantages I see personally.

“I love the ability to have a physical piece of art or object that helps ground this wider story in reality, but then being able to overlay a digital experience and have that object or artwork do something that is impossible, while it is happening before your very eyes.

“A lot of the stories that I try to tell are about wonder and a moment of awe. These technologies are really good ways to create those moments because a lot of people have not experienced stories like this.

“In terms of storytelling, having an interactive experience also allows a story to stop being a linear set path, something that you observe. It changes into a story that you can be involved in, feel more immersed in, and actually dictate how that story pans out.

“The emotional connection between the audience, the story and me as an artist, or with a brand, rises quite a lot.”

Question 2. AI is changing how art, marketing and design are made, but does emotion still matter more than the technology behind it?

Doddz: “Everything that I try to do is rooted in emotion.

“The tech allows you to tell stories or evoke emotions in new and interesting ways, but I like to see AI and tech in general as a paintbrush. It is a tool.

“You have to apply it creatively. You have to have the imagination to apply this technology in new and interesting ways. In the same way, you cannot use a paintbrush and just evoke emotion. You have to have that idea, that concept.

“Even though we are surrounded by technology, and specifically AI, emotion is all any audience actually cares about.

“Even if you had a terrible piece of art or experience, if it had somehow captured an emotion, it would still resonate and you would still remember it more than just the most beautiful piece of AI-generated work.

“I like to think of tech as a tool. What should happen is that the tech dissolves into the background, and all the audience is focusing on is the emotion.”

Question 3. There is a flood of AI-made content now. How is that changing what it means to be genuinely creative?

Doddz: “It feels like we are in a period of fundamental shift in how to think as a creative.

“It lowers the barrier of entry for the speed of experimentation and creative output. That is good and bad.

“It is bad because there is a lot of low-quality work now pouring out, more content and experiences than ever before, for better or for worse.

“But if you can harness that tech, even as an independent artist, you now have the ability to create pretty amazing things.

“As a creative, you have to go back to first principles. All of the creative decision-making, or things that you think you know about being creative, are based in a pre-AI reality.

“Now you have to start thinking: why am I doing it like this? Is there a different way of doing it? Is there a different application or interactive experience from this?

“I have an example of an artwork called The House. It is a painting of a couple buying their first home. You hold your phone up to it, and you can see inside the house and their lives play out in real time.

“You grow old with them, and AI generates new textures for different clothing and assets within that 3D experience.

“That comes from asking what an artwork looks like and feels like in a world with AI.

“You are going back to what a painting is, as you would typically experience it, but now there is a whole new world where you can come up with a new way to experience a painting.

“I like to use that as an example because I feel like it is a painting for the modern age.”

Question 4. Many artists fear AI will drain the soul out of creative work. Is that fear justified, or are we seeing the same panic that came with photography and film?

Doddz: “AI is presented as a tool for efficiency.

“There is an understandable moment of angst if you are a VFX artist, photographer or drone pilot and you think your job is going to get replaced.

“But it feels like a fundamental shift in the way painters were scared of the camera when that came around, and then the motion picture frightened photographers.

“These are not tools that are going to decimate the landscape and mean no one will ever hire another human again. That is not going to happen.

“But it is going to carve out a whole new way of working that will upset some of those industries, as it has done throughout history and will continue to do so.

“In terms of avoiding that fear, the train has already left the station.

“You kind of have to embrace it. You have to have this natural curiosity.

“That does not mean you have to be at the forefront trying every single new tool, because there are a hundred thousand a week, it feels like. But just having one eye on it matters.

“If it does not interest you, that is fine. But finding an avenue where you can use it and apply it is important.

“With AI, there is automation or image generation, but there are different ways to use these tools that might fit your interests or creativity.

“It is a difficult question to answer because if you are not involved, you are going to feel like you are quite far behind.”

Question 5. When brands and audiences see your work, what do you want them to understand about storytelling, technology and emotion?

Doddz: “From the brand side, great brands are great storytellers.

“The marketing should not feel like selling the features of whatever your product is. It should inspire. It should be heartfelt.

“It should be a really cool experience that somebody loves, and it just so happens to be put on by your brand, and obviously makes sense as to why you would be involved in doing that.

“From the brand side, storytelling and emotion come first. Everything else, such as how we deliver that in a new and interesting way, comes second.

“From the art side, it all comes from a place of trying to make people happy.

“The world asks a lot of us. It can feel heavy sometimes.

“The artwork is purely designed to create moments of joy, connection and shared experience with somebody, whether that is the artwork itself or the exhibition the artwork is placed in.

“In terms of the public speaking that I do as well, I would hope if I have talked about that artwork, why I am doing what I am doing, or the journey that I have been on, that just like the artwork, you would feel lighter at the end of it compared to how you started.”