There’s a lot of noise about AI replacing creatives. Apparently, we’re all supposed to sit back and let the algorithms do the storytelling. So, I decided to test it. For £150, I bought into one of those AI whiteboard tools that promised “professional videos in minutes!”
What I actually bought was a digital version of Ryanair.
Every step of the process came with a new charge. Voiceover? Extra. Want the AI to actually assemble your scenes? That’ll be more. Need to not manually drag every frame like it’s a stop-motion film made by a sad intern? Pay up. It felt like the Goodfellas restaurant scene:
“Can’t pay your rent this month? — F*** you, pay me.
Need the video exported? — F*** you, pay me.
Want a character with the correct number of limbs? — F*** you, pay me.”
By the end, I had a 5-minute Frankensteinian flop starring a person with four legs, four arms, and an eyeball orbiting somewhere near the left corner of the screen. Less explainer video, more demonic ClipArt séance.
Meanwhile, at We Are Cognitive, we’re still drawing by hand — not dragging and dropping our dignity.
We build structure. We write words that work. We time moments for laughs, gasps, or that lovely little aha. We use voiceovers that sound like people because — brace yourself — they are people.
Yes, AI is fast. But so is Ryanair. You just land wondering where your wallet and your soul went.
Now, compare that to how we work at We Are Cognitive.
We don’t do cookie-cutter. We do conversations. We listen to your goals, script with purpose, storyboard with brains, and then bring it all to life with visuals that flow, not just flail.
You get:
A process that’s pain-free, not pixel-punishing
Hand-holding (the good kind) from start to finish
Actual people with actual smiles — not just stock doodles of men pointing at graphs
Clarity, nuance, timing, and yes — a bit of humour that doesn’t feel like a dad joke in a suit
We’re not here to rinse your budget and run. We’re here to get the story right.
Because if your audience tunes out, does it matter how fast you made it?
AI is clever. But human creativity? That’s where the meaning lives.