Unless you’re in the “AI bubble” echo chamber, it’s clear people are turning on A.I. While I still use it for sparingly, I’d like to clear up any confusion about how, and at what frequency, I utilize A.I. tools.
Why I Don’t Use A.I. for Art
Using A.I. at any point in the process now carries a stigma. If someone spots A.I. generated content, there is an assumption that they use it throughout the process, doing half or all the work for you. In this article, I want to be very clear about just how AI fits into my creative life, and why I’m starting to use it way less.
But let it be known: when it comes to works of personal creative expression, everything is 100% human made... for better or worse.
What I Don’t Let A.I. Touch
My personal creative work, the poems, short stories (even the dystopian tales about A.I.), doodles, and books, live in my brain and I don’t use A.I. at any point. Not to come up with ideas, not for inspiration, not for editing… nothing at all. A.I. simply isn’t capable of generating something real – and why I create art, music, or writing has nothing to do with efficiency. Marketing is another issue.
And frankly, this website and what I post on YouTube or other Social Media is about sharing my art, and to some extent… marketing my stuff. Writing a book and marketing a book are two very different monsters. But just because some A.I. is used after the artwork or book is completed and published doesn’t mean it was used during the production. I like the think my core audience is an intelligent bunch and are able to distinguish the real and artificial aspects.
Above: doodle drawing (not A.I. generated)
A.I. Wasn’t Made for Art and Can’t Describe It Properly
Here’s what A.I. says about art, poetry, and writing:
“A poem is a pressure valve.”
What does that even mean? Poetry is an expression of the soul through words and as A.I. doesn’t have a soul, it will never grasp this concept.
“A short story is a place to hide and a place to reveal.”
This is the stupidest way to describe a story. It means nothing, holds no weight. This is the way a soulless machine that doesn’t enjoy consuming stories describes the act of storytelling.
“A doodle is a nervous system on paper.”
I’m sorry… what? Drawing is a cathartic experience for me and gives my mind space to breathe. I think a doodle is… a fun little drawing you do when you’re bored or in a work meeting (or in class, if you’re a student). Human instinctively know this, but the computer doesn’t truly know boredom or the desire to create for creation’s sake.
“A book is a long argument with yourself.”
This one made me want to barf. You think I spent 13 years having schizophrenic arguments and writing them down?
The new science fiction fantasy novel I’ve been working on since 2010 (first draft was completed in 2023) may have caused me to have arguments with myself (about structure, word use, plot points, etc.) but a book is not “an argument.” It’s whatever the writer and reader independently make it out to be through the transfer of words and ideas.
A.I. can imitate the shape of these things, but it can’t imitate the internal force that produces them.
Above: cover for upcoming novel
(not A.I. generated)
. It can’t replicate the moment when a sentence finally clicks after you’ve wrestled with it for an hour. It can’t feel the tiny electric jolt of a metaphor that shouldn’t work but somehow does. It also can’t be controversial (the owners of said A.I. may get sued, after all).
So the personal work stays human. Keeping it pure, otherwise there’s no integrity in the work.
Where AI Does Show Up: the Legwork of Marketing
There’s a category of writing on my site that isn’t art: it’s commentary. Reflections. Essays about process, creativity, or anything I want really, from Pulp Fiction film analysis to my favorite 5 Goosebumps books.
For some of these blog posts (like the one you’re reading now), I’ll incorporate A.I. in the process. These articles are supposed to draw you in from a search engine and maybe you’ll find my art or real writing and either buy something weird or at least sign up for the newsletter.
I ocassionally use AI to help me structure the ideas, to challenge the lazy phrasing, to push the argument a little further than I would have on my own. But I never just ask for a purely generated article, not edit it myself, and post it for online consumption. Same goes with some of the copy on the website (like on the Jam Notes podcast page).
The Elephant in the Room: A.I. Generated Images and Videos
Why do I fear the accusation of being an “A.I. artist”? Because, when sharing a story or poem, I will use A.I. images and videos.
A.I. Images: Decorative Purposes Only
It can be neat, as a writer, to put your words in an image generator and see what the computer spits out. It’s never great.
If you made it to my website, I want the meat you’re consuming to be the writing, art, or music itself, not the A.I. generated pictures that accompany them. They’re there for decorative purposes. That being said, I will be using A.I. less in this regard moving forward. More on that later…
At the end of the day, I have no problem with an artist using A.I. to write a description of their artwork so long as the art itself is pure. So as a writer, using some A.I. art to promote the writing, as long as the writing is a pure human expression… I feel like it’s fair equivalency.
Above: image depicting character from Laenif
(A.I. generated image)
A.I. Use in YouTube Videos
Unless there is a stock video I can use, or a way to shoot the video I need myself, I will use A.I. video generation, but it’s a lengthy process. First, I generate the images I need with A.I. and then I ask A.I. to make a video with those images. Writing these prompts can be annoying (sometimes at least 4 different prompts to get 8 seconds of “footage”). When I can afford to pay artists, actors, and film makers to do this for me, I will. But for now, I just can’t afford to pay a bunch of humans to make 3 -4 videos per month. For my “doodle videos” – no A.I. is used in the process.
Other Disclaimers About A.I. Use
Then there’s the professional writing (mostly financial blogs)… and although I imagine (nor necessarily do I want there to be) little to no crossover between the audience of this blog and the audience that reads what I write for work... That’s the place where clarity and speed matter, and A.I. has been useful (at times) in shortening the process so I can get back to creating what I love as opposed to what I get paid for. But even in the workspace, A.I. has underdelivered, and often requires more time to fix than to just write the damn article myself, from scratch.
Ethical Concerns with Artificial Intelligence: Why I’m Scaling Back
But I’ve heard the arguments and ethical concerns with A.I. and they’re persuading me more and more as A.I. output has turned out to be fundamentally flawed.
The water use, the energy consumption, the labor behind the curtain. There’s the odd accuracy that sometimes occurs, knowing how LLMs work – just guessing the next word based off past interactions. Then there’s the ownership and rights issues regarding the original content and pieces that LLMs used to train themselves…
I’m growing more and more anti‑A.I. everyday. But I’m not going off‑grid, just becoming more intentional. I’m choosing when to use it instead of reflexively reaching for it. I’m letting friction back into the process in places where friction is necessary.
Above: Squirrel wastes water, scene from demonic short story.
(A.I. generated image)
A.I. appears to be here to stay, though. And I feel those who over-rely on it will be left with those who refused to use it at all while those who learned to use it sparingly, ethically, and effectively will be the most successful. Kind of like the internet in the late 1990s.
Scaling back doesn’t mean abandoning the tool entirely. But going forward, I will be using it in a way that aligns with my values instead of eroding them.
Also – when A.I. is used to make scientific, medical, and mathematical breakthroughs, that’s one undeniable advantage of its existence. Try to remember… it’s not all bad, but the writing, art, and music it generates usually is quite terrible. And let’s not let it take over parts of society like the criminal justice system.
The Future of My Creative Process
I want my art to feel like it came from a human… because it did. I want the writing I get paid to write to be efficient so I can spend more time making things that allow me to express myself. When using A.I. for marketing, though, I want to use AI in a way that’s ethical, sustainable, and honest.
(C) Copyright 2026. All Rights Reserved by the Author.
Written by BW Derge (a real person)