Creating Smarter with AI: Embracing the Tool, Not Fearing the Change

Using AI for creativity isn’t about being replaced; it’s about being expanded.

Jan 09, 2025

Using AI for creativity isn’t about being replaced; it’s about being expanded. In this inaugural edition of "Creating Smarter with AI," I’ll share my journey with AI, how it amplifies creativity, and why it’s a tool to embrace, not fear.

Let’s explore the ethical questions, practical uses, and personal experiences that show AI’s potential to enhance, not replace, our creative spark.

I'm Lisa Brown and created this newsletter to share what I'm learning about using AI in my business and in my writing.

It's also about discovering the ways you use it, everyone is different and I've learned so much from how friends use this amazing tool.

My Journey with AI

When I first was drawn to using AI, I applied it to services related to my business. That meant content creation for websites, for SEO (search engine optimization).

So I learned how to create a spreadsheet in Google Sheets that would take prompts and fill in columns and rows in the spreadsheet with content that would eventually be turned into articles on a website. I built an entire website of over 400 pages that way, using OpenAI's API (it was 3.5 then)

But don't let that geeky bit of technical jargon throw you off. There are so many ways to use AI and they don't all include being technical or coding.

I discovered MidJourney which creates images based on text prompts and other parameters (settings). It fascinated me. You could conjure up a whole world or setting with a few phrases.

I even created a course about MidJoureny that takes beginners through the steps of using it for their own projects. But when I ran ads to offer the course, it was met with a lot of negativity. so much so, my ads and website were reported and I gave up on promoting the course. I felt attacked because I was.

Pitchforks and Torches

That's when I noticed that there is a great divide in how people perceive AI and using it for creative pursuits. I floundered around in that space for quite a while, so many people were online with their pitchforks and torches, ready to burn or poke anyone who had anything positive to say about AI.

But then I realized, they're just scared, it's fear.

And like any new technology, when it emerges into the world of regular people, it's not understood. If you're one of that group, it's okay. This might not be for you. But if you're curious, it just might be.

A Shift in Perception

I've noticed just in the last few months a shift. A shift where people are deciding that AI isn't the devil and that it's an actual useful tool, that it can be a useful partner in the creative process and for so many other things.

I thought about applying AI to my own writing. And I wondered, how could it help me create better stories. More resonant?

I wondered, how can it help me with marketing, because putting myself out there has always been the thing I've found most difficult. (seriously, give me a small group of people and it's wonderful, but show me the the little box to type in on social media and I freeze.)

I'm not talking about letting AI do the everything for you. I am finding there are ways to use it that are helpful, that free you and your mind up for the really creative work, so you can direct your energy where it makes most sense.

That's what this newsletter is about, Creating Smarter with AI.

Addressing the Elephant

We can't talk about using AI without talking about the ethics of it's genesis and use. So what is the role of AI?

I think AI supports creativity. It amplifies it. The thing is, modern entrepreneurs have to wear so many hats.

We do more than the primary thing we do. Things like marketing, crunching numbers, optimizing blog posts.

Toss in our shortcomings, add a little overwhelm and it's easy to find yourself in a very uncreative place.

AI is a tool that can free up time, free up space, so you can get to your thing, the reason you do what you do. Do you see?

AI has no soul

One of the things people say is that AI has no soul. And that's true. A soul isn't something that can be manufactured, so a machine or collection of software doesn't have one.

And that's fine, it isn't supposed to, not any more than a paint brush does or a typewriter or computer does.

It's a tool. A tool that's meant to be guided and directed by a human with a soul.

Ethics, bias and transparency

The ethics (or lack of) in obtaining the training datasets isn't a question. The real ethical questions are different and have to do with bias and transparency.
The material the Ai was trained on can introduce bias depending on how diverse and varied it was.
And transparency is needed on both sides, the LLMs and how they're using data, especially personal data, and then for the users, how are we being transparent about our use of AI?
No doubt we'll be wrangling with this for a while.

How AI and LLMs work

The training datasets contain lots of different media: books, articles, images and other data.

It's not that the AI has the original works inside. What it has are the mathematical patterns of these works. It learns the patterns and relationships of the concepts.

This means when you prompt, it's not a storage and retrieval situation where it a page from some specific book, it's giving you a new combination based on the patterns and probabilities it's learned.

It's like a student learning how to write an essay. To do this, they read a lot of essays, to learn how they are put together.

They read a textbook breaking down the elements and patterns. Then they sit down to write their own essay based on the patterns they learned, to author an original essay.

How humans do art

In art, the tradition was to train under a master. In which you learned their methods and approaches, mimicking their art and techniques until you could do your own work. We still learn about art this way today, dissecting the brushstrokes and color choices of Van Gogh.

Picasso copied other artists until he made the leap to create his own recognizable style.

Humans have always "copied" each other, it's how we learn, by emulation.

If I picked up a paintbrush and painted something like Starry Night, no one would yell at me. No, that would be wonderful, expressing myself on canvas.

And yet, if I do the same thing, with Midjourney or DALL-E, to create a scene in that style, it's awful, bring out the pitchforks and the torches.

That's the thing, AI is a tool that humans use to [fill in the blank].

I don't believe it's cheating.

I think it gives us ways to create that haven't been possible before.

It's a new tool. Think about that, a new tool.

You could say that the last time a new tool came on the scene and was widely adopted, it was the personal computer. And now they're in every home and if you think about your phone, they're even in your pocket.

We're at the beginning of the AI story and it's exciting.

How I'm using AI right now

Right now, I'm using AI to help me with things that cause overwhelm.

For me, that's marketing. So I'm using a custom GPT I built with ChatGPT to create my content calendar.

This lets me bulk create social media posts and schedule them ahead of time.

I'm still on the platforms to engage but having the "what do I post today" question already answered and handled, gives me space to do deeper work.

I'll be talking about this more in upcoming weeks.

Human creativity and AI

For me creativity is in the unique way that each person will use it.

And just like the art examples, the best way is to see what others have done, emulate their prompts then make it your own. Humans learn by doing, this is how we do it.

Our individual experience is what makes us who we are as a human.

And that experience is something that AI can't duplicate.

Our experience is what dictates who we are, how we approach life and what our goals are for using AI.

Everyone is different, we'll use AI to create different things to suit our reality. Your list of uses will be different from mine.

It's fascinating to see how others are using it, the prompts they write, the questions they ask. What are you using AI for? reply and let me know!

How can you get started and maintain your uniqueness?

The best way: Personalize things.

If you use a prompt as a starting point, personalize it, customize it to your situation.

Add context to your situation, desired outcome, what format you expect.

It will change the results.

As you go, depending on how you're using AI, you can learn to create a custom GPT that takes into account your style, tone, background and preferences.

You can teach AI to become the assistant you need. Even better, you can create more than one.

I've got several custom gpt's that I'm always refining and tweaking. They get better with every iteration.

What if you're hesitant?

Don't be fearful. Give it a try and treat it like a conversation. Ask in plain language. It might surprise you.

Here's an easy way to get started. Checkout Google's Notebook LM.

It's great at summarizing and helping you learn.

It can summarize a pdf document or even a Youtube video. You can include multiple sources as well and it bases everything on the sources you give.

If you're like me, I watch videos but prefer to read, it’s faster!

You can give Notebook LM the link to a Youtube video and get a comprehensive summary in moments. You can even generate quiz questions to reflect on that includes an answer key. Even better: it's got buttons built-in for these functions, you don't even have to write a prompt.

Try it here: https://notebooklm.google.com/

What’s your experience with AI?

How are you using it, or what’s holding you back? Hit reply and let me know—I’d love to feature your stories in a future edition.

Until next time, keep creating smarter and share this with someone curious!