It’s not AI, it’s you!

During our secondary school leaving ceremony, we shuffled in line to shake hands and exchange brief niceties—congratulations and good luck for the wide-open future. I don’t remember the exact wording of the pivotal question I was asked, but I recall my reply vividly: I said I wanted to be a writer. I sensed that the school governor was a little surprised by my answer. I was 16 years old.

Following in sixth form, I continued to pursue this dream—I wrote a full-length play (that never saw the light of day) and wrote whenever and wherever I could.

Then I stopped believing.

As the years have passed, my creative output has been pushed to the back burner. My failure to fully live up to those childhood dreams brings a mixture of feelings—some negative, some positive (because of what I have actually achieved in my life by pushing and challenging myself).

A spark has been reignited in my creativity over the past few months, and this has accelerated my output, boosted my confidence, and inspired ideas I can actually develop. It’s made me want to write again—or at least believe I can, to feel less frustrated with my creative self. I’ve even started working on a book, or at least a new approach to writing one.

What’s changed? It’s AI, but it’s not just AI. It’s me. It’s me using AI as a means to unlock my creativity. It’s not artificial intelligence; it’s my imagination, my voice—and a way to see that voice develop, reflective (of me) technology, if you like.

We must not forget the human touch when we discuss AI running away with everything and taking over the world. I understand that roles are changing because of AI—many jobs and skills are, or will be, made redundant—and that’s not easy for many people. But perhaps, for others like me, AI is helping us fulfill those childhood dreams that once felt out of reach, slipping through our fingers lost in time.

How does AI unlock my creativity?

It helps me get where I want to go in my creative process by:

• Providing research, pointers, suggestions to strengthen ideas
• Helping me polish and refine my writing—in the way that is me
• An evolving thesaurus—finding just the right words, my words, my expression and imagery, which I feed into it (looping more of me into my output)

When AI provides support to my suggestions, I edit and shape the response back, teaching it my voice along the way. My process, with AI’s help, now allows me to be all of these:

• Idea Originator: Generating the initial concept and thinking it through
• Director: Deciding how the idea can be shaped, the direction it should take, and the context
• Editor: Refining the words to be my words

Maybe there’s a taboo in talking about AI in the creative process because people think AI does it all for you. That would be like trying to wear someone else’s clothes that don’t fit or don’t feel right — an imposter. This would be the opposite of creative; it would be meaningless, awkward, and pointless.

AI supports my creativity, providing focus and space for it. This liberation and enjoyment—without the worry of getting tripped up by cognitive dissonance—is truly empowering.

Have you used AI to reach your creative self, share your story with me here.