Artificial intelligence may be changing creative work, but the message from Press Play: Filipinnovation — Gaming, Animation & Interactive was considerably more nuanced than the familiar prediction that AI will simply replace artists.
Held September 29 at the Philippine Center in New York, the discussion brought together Nico Puertollano, co-founder & executive creative director of Rezonate; Rich Tu, Executive creative director & partner at Sunday Afternoon; and Brian Cortes, VR developer & owner of SpaceRez Games LLC. The conversation was moderated by Ingrid Festin, director & counsel, Business Affairs at Take-Two Interactive.
One revealing takeaway was how routinely AI has already entered the creative workplace. Most of the speakers said they use it in some form, but often for administrative work, research, organization or as a reference point before moving on to work generated and shaped by people themselves. Rather than presenting AI as a substitute for creativity, the discussion suggested that many professionals are treating it as another tool in the process.
Puertollano offered perhaps the evening’s most thought-provoking challenge. He questioned the assumption that entertainment constantly needs technological innovation simply because new technology exists. Some human experiences, he suggested, do not need reinventing simply to appear more advanced. Instead, he argued that AI could be directed toward harder and more consequential challenges—such as helping improve work in hospitals and other areas where technology might solve genuine human problems.
That distinction—between using technology because we can and using it where it matters—gave the conversation particular weight.
The evening also returned to a more immediate question of Filipino representation. The speakers encouraged Filipinos to support films that put Filipino culture and heritage before wider audiences, including DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island. Their message was straightforward: representation does not end when a Filipino story reaches the screen. Audiences also have a role in showing that such stories are worth making, supporting and seeing.
In that sense, Filipinnovation became a conversation not only about the future of technology, but about what Filipino creatives want that future to serve: human creativity, meaningful problems and a culture worth carrying forward.
