welcome to the future | a rock opera about ai made with ai by humans

We’re living (and working) through weird times, and it’s not an understatement to describe the current conversations around AI and creativity as an existential crisis. Are the robots coming for our jobs, or are they opening new creative doors for us? It’s a dramatic question! Which is why, instead of adding to the pile of think pieces, we decided to lock arms with our AI besties to make a rock opera about the situation.

The project, directed by myself and my creative partner Jessica Wyatt (aka Swamp & Bonnet), combines Midjourney, Runway, ChatGPT, Suno, Flow, and Higgsfield into one delirious odyssey. The lyrics and music track were developed with ChatGPT, Suno, and a lot of human meddling.

I’m going to hold your hand when I say this: The idea that AI makes production instant or effortless is a myth. Plenty of human hours went into this piece, hours spent thinking, shaping, revising, experimenting, finessing, and sparring with robots over prompts. The result is something we never could have made without AI – and something AI could never have made without us.

*Oh, and for people in the future who read this, a disclaimer: We made this film in 2025. The technology is probably way better where you are. Or AI has wiped out humanity and I’m talking to the void. (Hi, void!)

Credits

Directors: Jessica Wyatt & Jessea Perry Hankins (Swamp and Bonnet)

Animation, motion graphics, editing, finishing, sound design: Jessica Wyatt

Producer: Keenan Hemje

Imagery: wrangled and shaped by the Duncan Channon creative department using Midjourney

Song & lyrics: ChatGPT, Suno, human meddling

Production: Banana Stand