The Prompt Report

A monthly dispatch from the frontlines of AI and Creativity.

The first time I used VEO 3 to make a photo of my twin brother’s kiss, it sent shockwaves through the family WhatsApp group.

The second time, it got me a ban.

After a brief exile, I’ve been readmitted on the strict condition that I don’t use AI to force any more fraternal affection.

How is this relevant to a newsletter about AI and creativity?

Well, in a strange and slightly disturbing way, it sums up why I’m so excited about AI. Not because I think a deepfake of my brothers will win at Cannes (though it did get a lot of traction and ultimately sparked action), but because AI unlocks wild, weird, wonderful creative possibilities.

I genuinely feel like a zealot awaiting the rapture, irrationally excited about something that could wipe out my career. But I’m optimistic because I believe we’re on the brink of a creative explosion.

AI is about to put Hollywood-scale power into people’s hands. Soon, someone with a laptop and a long weekend could make a feature film.

Creatives can iterate on ideas almost instantly. Whether it’s a new visual style, a different dialogue pass, or an updated melody? AI can deliver options in seconds. A recent runway update allows you to lip dub any video - so yes, clients are definitely going to want to tweak ads after they’re live.

A single prompt can now generate an entire multimedia experience, as AI seamlessly blends text, image, video, sound, and code. LLMs can write you a short story with a matching soundtrack and visuals.

Cultural mashups are blowing up. AI makes combining styles, genres, and aesthetics instant, whether it’s Renaissance-punk fashion, noir anime, or Shakespearean sci-fi. This Harry Potter Balenciaga mashup is already two years old.

And it never tires. (insert Kyle Reese voice) It’s an inexhaustible collaborator, capable of building endlessly, rescuing you from creative dead ends, or expanding on the faintest spark of an idea. And so far, it has not once told me “I’m a hack piece of shit who regurgitates the same six ideas for every brief!”

That’s what prompted The Prompt Report - a monthly dispatch from the frontlines of AI and creativity.

Each month, I’ll round up the biggest headlines, strangest experiments, most useful tools, and the occasional existential crisis, all with an eye on what it means for creatives and the ad industry.

If you’re at all excited by some of these possibilities or just feel like you should keep track of them, I’ll try to keep you in the loop (not the family WhatsApp loop, I don’t think you want that).

Yes, I’ve built an AI agent to pull these articles for me, and you better believe it’s going to finesse the copy and fix my grammar.

But for the time being, someone still has to prompt the AI to make something beautiful, bold, or brother kissing.

And that’s where I hope to play.

Jono Flannery

Not the actual twin brothers, but an AI recreation of them.

The prompt report - 30.7

1. AI‑Generated Short Films: "Midnight Drop" Goes Big

Google’s Veo 3, OpenAI’s Sora, and Midjourney jointly powered Midnight Drop, a 12‑minute AI‑generated short that recreates a fictional U.S. strike, with full visuals and audio. The speed and polish make this a cinematic game‑changer.
Jono’s Take: In 2023, I went on a shoot that spanned six countries. We’re now entering a world where a single creator (or two) can achieve Netflix‑level output, on a fraction of the budget and time. We’re already seeing it in ads, starting with social, but it won’t be long until they’re prime time. I think we’ll see at least one AI ad at the Super Bowl in February. Is it too late for us to strike?

2. Popeyes Drops an AI‑Powered Diss Track

Popeyes, with Suno and Veo 3, launched a cheeky AI-assisted diss track at McDonald’s over the wrap wars. The entire campaign was cooked up in under three days TechRadar.
Jono’s Take: This is fast culture at work. It’s entertaining, yes, but it signals that brands are ready to drop traditional agencies and go real‑time, on‑brand, on‑budget. There’s not going to be time for three rounds of feedback when your competitor is dropping AI diss tracks in three days.

3. GenAI Ramping in Video Ad Spend

IAB reports 86 % of advertisers are using or planning GenAI for video ads, with 40 % of video ad spend driven by it by 2026 TV Tech+1Ana+1.
Jono’s Take: More than a tool for iteration, AI’s becoming the engine of ad creation. I think the trick for creatives is to stay ahead of strategy, tone and brand nuance, because AI will copy your style, not your strategic truths - There’s a reason it’s called a ‘human insight’.

4. Steam Games: One in Five Use GenAI

2025 sees 20 % of new Steam titles built with GenAI, primarily to generate art, audio, and even live environments Tom's Hardware. Game makers aren’t just outsourcing assets like digital trees and rocks; they’re constructing live, dynamic worlds.
Jono’s Take: It’s happening in games too! Game development costs and times have bloated over the last decade. AI will open up new, faster avenues for indie game devs to create AAA games - or maybe even advertisers.

5. DeepMind Just Aced the World’s Hardest Test

Not strictly creativity related but seismic in the world of AI. At this year’s International Math Olympiad, the academic Hunger Games for teenage geniuses, DeepMind’s Gemini AI sat the exam and walked away with a gold medal. Five out of six brutal problems solved. In 4.5 hours. In plain English. Without Googling.

This is like the intern sitting the hardest maths exam on Earth and beating the national team. Except the intern is a robot. And now it wants your job.

Most AI so far has felt like a well-read parrot: good at regurgitating, bad at reasoning. This proves it can now do the slow, painful, brain-melting thinking. The kind that most creatives try to avoid by "pivoting to strategy."

Jono’s Take: The more I read about this more I realized how big of a deal it is. This is solving century-old equations on its own.

Final Thought

AI isn’t here to replace creativity; it’s here to amplify it. From film to gaming to ads, speed and scale are only half the story. The real test now is: can we put heart into high‑speed workflows? As tools accelerate, our creative muscles will have to shift to strategy, human insight, and ethical impact. That’s where the future gets interesting.

End prompt.