Pixelz Newsletter

Is it AI? And does it even matter?

I was boarding a plane to visit family for the holidays when I found myself standing on the jetbridge, staring—really staring—at the Delta posters on the wall. Not admiring them but analyzing them. Getting uncomfortably close.

I remember thinking: how many other travelers are doing this right now? And then immediately realizing the answer was probably none. This is what my job has done to me.

My knee-jerk thought when I looked at the images was the same one I’ve had a hundred times lately: Is this AI? Closely followed by, Delta should really call us because we could do better.

And that’s when it clicked. Not the Delta ad. The question itself.

I don’t actually think it’s a bad thing that we ask whether something is AI. In a lot of ways, it means we’ve become more visually literate and better consumers of content. We’re paying attention. We’re looking closer, and that’s not nothing.

But the more I sat with it, the more I realized that in this case, the answer didn’t really matter. And I think that’s because I trust Delta. They’ve earned my brand loyalty over and over again, which means the stakes are low. Whether that image was AI-generated or heavily retouched doesn’t change how I feel about the brand.

Part of that is also what the image is actually responsible for. Delta isn’t selling me a seat through that poster in the way an e-commerce image sells a product. I’m not evaluating texture, fit, or quality through it. It’s reinforcing a brand I already know.

And that argument doesn’t fall apart when you move into e-commerce either. If a brand already lives in your closet, uses the same creative team, delivers the same quality, and suddenly incorporates AI into some of its imagery, does that automatically negate your trust? Or does context still matter there too?

That’s why it feels like “Is it AI?” has become a reflexive shortcut. A question we ask before we’ve even decided whether it’s the right one. Because the better questions are often harder: Do I trust the source? Does this image do its job? Does it carry the right responsibility for what it’s asking me to believe or buy?

Tools matter less than intent, context, and trust.

Standing there on the jetbridge, being a total weirdo. I realized this isn’t really an AI problem. It’s a framing problem. We’re so focused on how something is made that we sometimes forget to ask why it exists in the first place.

And maybe that’s the shift we should be embracing and when it’s just noise.

Anyway. If you see someone getting way too close to an ad at the airport, no, you didn’t.

Pixelz Pulse

Here’s what’s been going on at Pixelz…

  • Not even a full month into 2026, and we’ve already launched 2 FLOW events! We’ll be debuting a new format but still packed with keynote speakers, workshops and networking. Join us at one of the events:
    • Los Angeles, March 4th
    • Barcelona, March 25th
  • AI is nothing new for us. We’ve recently updated our blog post that covers our history of AI and automations for retouching and post-production.
  • Still trying to digest everything that happened in 2025 related to AI? We’ve got it covered in this blog post, along with some predictions for 2026.

Hot Links

What’s caught our attention over the last month on the internet…

  • The trend predictions are still rolling in, and I’ve spent the entirety of this new year reading as many as I can. This one is a great read for a broader look at fashion trends and how they’ll shift culture (or maybe how shifting culture is shaping trends).
  • If you’ve missed it, everyone is going heavy on the nostalgia and reliving 2016. But why not take it a step further and have AI recreate your feed from 2016?