I'll admit it — I was instantly hooked when I first saw those AI-generated action figures popping up online.

As a lifelong collector of actual action figures — yes, the kind that smells like childhood and comes with weapons you immediately lose — I was ready to turn myself into a boxed digital hero. The nostalgia was real. The potential was exciting. And so, I dove in.

I did the work.

I refined the prompts.

I tweaked every detail to get the lighting, textures, and facial expressions right.

And let me tell you — the result was terrific. It looked like something straight off the shelf of a dystopian toy store. It's gritty, cinematic, and just the right amount of over-the-top. I had officially become an AI-crafted action figure, and it felt cool.

But then something strange happened:

I didn't post it, not because I forgot, Not because I was shy.

But because somewhere between refining the image and watching dozens of nearly identical ones flood my feed… the excitement vanished.

Suddenly, the magic was gone.

Not because mine wasn't good enough but because it lost its shine when it became too easy.

Everyone was doing it, but not in the "look at this amazing thing we're all contributing to" way. It was more like "copy, paste, prompt, post."

No story. No twist. There is no purpose beyond aesthetics.

And that's when I realized:

This isn't about how amazing AI can make things look anymore. We're past that. AI can wow — we know that.

The question now is: What are we doing with it? Why are we doing it?

No one is amazing anymore in a world where everyone can do amazing things.

As designers, we must strive to create work that stands out from the impressive things AI can produce. We need to develop ideas beyond the initial "wow" factor that AI offers that will make the difference.