AI = Your creative coworker
I used to “feel bad” about using AI.
As a creative, it felt like AI was a cheap way of outsourcing my talent to something that knew nothing about my personality, goals, or mission.
It seemed like nothing AI could do would actually live up to the standards I had for my personal work.
When I did tests to use AI for various tasks, the results always felt unnatural, unrelatable, and off brand.
And as someone working to build an authentic personal brand, these words are essentially the bane of my existence.
But the problem was that I was viewing AI as a competitor.
I was viewing it as a replacement to my creativity – rather than a tool for enhancing it.
So this left me with the question: How do I use AI without my work feeling inauthentic? How can I maintain personality in my work?
The answer I’ve found is to view AI as a creative coworker – not a competitor.
AI: Your Creative Coworker
“AI won’t replace programmers, but rather make it easier for programmers to replace everyone else.” –Naval
Now – I’m not a programmer. And if you aren’t either, this idea might scare you a bit.
But I think it’s important to see the meaning behind this tweet from Naval:
His point is that AI isn’t going to replace your job, it’s going to enhance it.
The reality is that smart people are already using AI. And they’re constantly learning how to use it more effectively.
These people will continue to leverage it as a tool for greater impact, increased productivity, and increased output.
There are also mind-boggling advancements happening on a day-by-day basis that continue to change the way we work. At this rate, who knows where we’ll be even 6-12 months from now.
The important thing to keep in mind is this:
Instead of fearing AI as a replacement for your job, use it as a tool, coworker, or assistant to increase the value you can personally provide.
If you fear AI might replace your job, you might be in a job that can (or will) be replaced. This can be solved by using AI to add to your “value tool belt.”
If you’re a writer, don’t let AI write for you.
If you’re a designer, don’t let AI design for you.
If you’re a programmer, don’t let AI code for you.
Instead – use AI to spark ideas, avenues, and paths you hadn’t thought of before. Let AI help you with a first draft (if needed) but then use your creative touch to add your unique style.
This is how you maintain your personality, authenticity, and creative flare in your work.
The (Increased) Need for Community
The internet first began with a bunch of wholesome forums, blogs, and communities that allowed people to connect with others anywhere in the world. (RIP to many of these great websites and forums that no longer exist)
There wasn’t any need to perfectly curate your life. Your authentic self was all that mattered.
But now, there’s an increased layer of cold, unrelatable content out there. As AI continues to increase in popularity and prominence, this will only trend upward.
Most people spend hours of precious time comparing themselves to others online, while attempting to maintain their own status. We’re drifting further and further away from the OG internet.
Because of this, the need for human experience + community has never been more important. Everyone is craving it.
Now, and exceedingly more in the near future — people want to connect with other humans.
Your story, your struggles, and your mission are things AI will never be able to replicate. Therefore, lean further into these things.
AI doesn’t have soul. But you do.
As I try to do my part in keeping this wholesome side of the internet alive, I’ve decided to create an online community called Seek Your Stoke. If you’re someone who’s passionate about finding purpose in life and building your life’s work around a meaningful goal – this community is designed for you.
How to Use AI Authentically (And 10x Your Output)
In order to use AI to increase your value, you must first learn how to use it effectively.
Since diving into AI over the past week (while writing this essay), I’m learning that AI is a skill you must learn. I don’t consider myself an expert in this area, but here are some of the ways I personally using AI as a creative entrepreneur:
1) Use AI as Your Creative Coworker
AI can be treated like a coworker and used to:
- have conversations
- brainstorm ideas
- outsource tasks (that you aren’t an expert in or don’t care to do)
- revise your work
It’s helpful to literally imagine it as your assistant and assign it the tasks that you’d love to have someone else do.
2) Distribute Your Ideas & Content
AI is making distribution easier.
I’ve always been someone who had a lot of ideas and a lot creative work to share. But my problem has always been in sharing that content online. Therefore – it never went anywhere. Most of my work lies dormant on digital hard drives and notebooks scribbled with ideas.
For me – I have a distribution problem, not a content problem. And if I had to guess it might be the same for you.
We all live lives that are interesting (regardless of if you believe it to be true of yourself). The knowledge, experience, and interests you possess are all things that others will resonate with.
But if you don’t have a good way to share these things online – you don’t have a way to connect with others, build a community, or find clients.
AI can help you solve this problem.
Just this week I’ve been experimenting with this, and have been pretty stoked on the results so far. Here’s the workflow I’ve been experimenting with:
- Write a newsletter, YouTube video script, or other long-form piece of content (You can also take an existing piece of content you previously created)
- Paste this newsletter or YouTube video into an AI platform (I’ve been experimenting with Kortex)
- Ask it to create 5-10 social posts based on the ideas from your content
It might take some back-and-forth conversation to get the results you’re looking for, but it’s a great place to start. And even when you do get some ideas, it’s important to rework each idea it gives you (instead of copy & pasting its results).
I’m at the very beginning stages of this workflow, but excited to continue improving it through trail and error! You can find this work on my Instagram and/or Twitter/X.
Tools I’m Using
And just for a quick reference, here are the tools I’ve been using (or hearing a lot about) so you have some places to get started.
- Claude – I’ve found this to be great for more creative-focused tasks. (E.g. Generating ideas for written hooks or developing color palettes for a brand design I’m working on)
- ChatGPT – This is great for general AI use, and more recently image generation. I haven’t personally used it much yet, but their new image generation is absolutely mind-boggling.
- Kortex – This is a writing + second-brain app that entrepreneur Dan Koe is building. I wrote this newsletter in Kortex for the first time this week and am hyped about the layout. Kortex has helpful AI tools and provides a ton of free prompts to improve its AI functionality.
Takeaways For You
As AI continues to progress, remember:
View it like a coworker, not a competitor. It’ll only replace your job if you don’t hire it first.
Use AI to enhance the work you enjoy and “hire” it to do the tasks you don’t.
I hope this was helpful, thanks so much for reading.
Reply below and let me know how you’re personally using AI – would love to hear your workflow as I’m continuing to learn as well!
See you next week.
–Eric Pfohl
