It had to come: a view on AI seen through the eyes of a creativity coach. As you might guess, my excitement for AI is yet to be found, but I’m trying to be somewhat open minded, if massively skeptical, about AI moving in on the territory of creativity. So, is AI going to compete with your creative process?

No, it’s not. The creative process is waayyy more that creativity, it’s a human process, and this is what ai is not: human.

Whether I’ll be using AI in the future, I don’t know, so I’ve done a little research into what it is people are excited about with the options and potential with using ai.

It seems the biggest benefits are that ai saves you time, and time often equals money. So, time and money.

However, as this article in Forbes rightly says, creative thinking and empathy are skills in high demand, and will be even more so in the ai age.

Creativity is far from just about time and money. It is about time, but in the sense of slowing down and making time. So, in the polar opposite meaning than what people seem to be using ai for.

And that’s just it, the feelings, abilities, emotions, and “soft” skills that make us well-rounded humans that are not just good at something, but pleasant and interesting people to be around, are also gained in big and small ways by engaging in creative processes again and again.

Human skills a creative process can give you, that AI can’t.

You may not realize it, but by simply sitting down at your kitchen table with paper and pencil, drawing shapes, animals, faces, flowers, or whatever you fancy, some of the skills you are practicing, apart from getting better at drawing, are:

• Deciding what not to do, what not to spend time doing

• Seeing, noticing details

• Patience

• Critical thinking

• Practicing being ok with not being satisfied with how it’s going

• Perseverance

• Problem solving

Just that simple act.

Caroline Quentin says it simply in this Instagram post. The creative process is as much about what you decide not to do, as what you do.

Other human skills you can learn by being creative are

• Empathy

• Nuance

• Working with other people, human interaction

• Creative thinking, thinking differently.

• Listening

The list is actually rather long.

And it’s not like we sit down to draw our dog and think “I’m going to get myself some human skills now”. But these are the subtle nuances we experience in tiny ways.

I could do a million house and garden jobs right now, but I have decided to dive into this complicated topic of creativity and AI. I trawl the internet myself for information I consider reliable and interesting, and I also take notice of my own opinion, based on my own experience as a creator, and the experience of 10 years as a creativity coach, coaching other creators in their creative processes.

It would probably be way quicker for me to plot questions into chatgpt and get most of my post written for me. But I’d feel cheated out of the goodness writing this thing myself gives me, knowing what I do about my own writing process.

The two main skills for me to practice when I do any writing, are focus and discipline. I’m up and down like a yo-yo, if I don’t catch myself, and glue my ass to the seat. My feeling of success lies in how much I get written without going to the kitchen, looking for a snack.

Little wins like that are just one of many we get to experience, when we go through a creative process that is a little challenging.

There is so much more going on when creating than just the finished product.

I’m reusing this quote by Charlie Peacock, cause it’s a favorite.

The difference being: AI is based on data, creativity on being human

I’m a fan of data. Data is important, facts are important, so we don’t claim things that aren’t true.

AI collects data from other people, let’s say in the creative field, but who fact checks if that data is true?

Also, taking information and images from creators who have spent a long time practicing their craft, maybe years, doesn’t seem right either.

The point of collecting a bunch of data is to come up with a qualified conclusion, or result. “This is how it is”.

But you can’t do that with creativity and creative work. Millions of data collected from a million different creators, won’t make your creative voice, expression, or experience any more right or wrong.

The meaning and purpose behind your work cannot be collected by Meta, Google, or any other data collector.
The effort you put in, the sacrifices you make, and the personal process you go through, when you pluck up the courage and engage in a creating process, cannot be collected or translated through bots.

Creativity is such a human process, which is why it’s difficult and brilliant.

If doing creative work well was easy, more people would dip their toe in, but it isn’t always, and so a “hack” has been invented. Except you can’t "hack” your way through a creative life. Thankfully.

Make your creative process as personal and human as possible.

It seems the most rebellious act you can do these days, is to decide to focus on your own creative processes. Be a modern rebel and build the most personal, delicious, and emotionally human processes you possibly can.

Make the way you work, when you work, and how you work super personal to you, your personality, and your life, so much so, that you feel nurtured by the process of working on your thing.

I have honestly seen how focusing on your own project for as little as 20 minutes a week, can create incredible results. By giving yourself permission to just focus a little bit on your own dream or project each week, you’ll be amazed by what that can do to you.

If you feel lost or overwhelmed, the best thing you can do, is to go back to basics, and do any kind of creative act for a mere 5 minutes. Keep it simple. Come gently back to yourself and your working process, and you’ll be fine.

Looking at the bigger picture of your life

I find it’s often useful to take a step back and ask myself “what is it I’m trying to do? Where am I going and how am I doing”?

New gadgets and tools are coming at us at neck breaking speed, and it it’s a good idea to have our wits about us when navigating this. Simple things like thinking for yourself. Especially if you’re surrounded by people who don’t. AI might be useful for some things, but hey, it’s just a tool.

Specialize in yourself, your work, and your process, and keep your critical thinking hat on!

That’s the advice from this creativity coach.

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