The Creativity Cycle x AI (why “story” stays human)
The creative cycle is the structure we put behind artistic processes. This structure may look different for every creative person, but one thing’s for certain: AI has been shaking things up.
Let’s face it, artificial intelligence is having a moment – especially in the creative industry.
Everything from art, photography, music and video seem to be on the AI discussion panel. And this has raised some valid concerns for many artists and creatives.
But after researching (and doing some self reflection on) the topic, I’ve come up with a rather optimistic thesis.
So welcome to this post, where we’ll talk about how AI will enhance and influence the creativity cycle and how artificial intelligence cannot replace one specific part of that process.
But let’s wrap up this small talk. Let’s start by first exploring what the creative cycle looks like.
Let’s get it.
The Creative Cycle (a 3-stage model)
This section is reductionist. Oversimplified.
That is, there are many interpretations of what the creative process looks like, and it’s different for everyone – this is simply my attempt to organize it.
So, inevitably, there will be countless caveats and exceptions, I’m sure.
But this map can serve as a sort of 10,000 foot view, simplifying things into a compact structure of “this is basically what happens…”.
Here’s a quick visual of how I’m breaking down the creative cycle into three core stages.
The creative process illustrated:
Pretty general? Perhaps.
But fairly accurate? I think so.
I mean, creativity is often spontaneous, chaotic and a bit…willy-nilly. But I feel like this system is a good average trajectory (for most things, really).
Let’s unpack each stage a little bit.
1. Ideation (inspiration + discovery)
This first stage is all about coming up with an idea, or a concept for a creative project.
This initial ideation may come from some aha! moment you had while showering, or perhaps it’s the result of weeks-long brainstorming and effort.
Or – nowadays – maybe it’s the results of both plus the help of AI (like ChatPGT by OpenAI).
There’s no one way to do ideation and discovery. But one thing’s for sure: AI is making it easier.
I can log into my ChatGPT account and ask it to give me 100s of ideas for writing a new song topic, creating new blog posts or coming up with fresh ideas for whatever project I’m working on.
Many of the ideas may be generic. But it’s getting the creative juices flowing and it’s another tool to foster creative thinking and discovery.
AI will continue to impact this first stage – not always, but it’s great when you’re feeling a writer’s block, so I don’t see this as a bad thing.
2. The “Story” (the process or journey)
This part of the creative process is the story – the creator’s journey.
It’s the culmination and script for all of the iterations, inspirations, emotional cues and intuitions. It’s our documented trials and errors and experiences in flow state.
It’s human. It’s why we read books, watch movies and follow our favorite influencers.
It’s the part of the creative cycle that AI can help with, but cannot replace.
But before we discuss why I believe this, let’s first look at the last phase of the creativity cycle.
3. The Result
The finished product is the last stage of the creative journey.
Well, “finished product” is even nuanced. I mean, every artist knows the difficulty in knowing when a song is complete or an artwork is done.
But artificial intelligence can skip the second phase completely and help bring things, ideas and concepts into fruition.
I mean, we can prompt an AI to write a song, create a beautiful digital artwork or write us a 5,000 word post on itself.
AI has infiltrated the final stage of the creative process. But I see it as a spectrum.
While many people may leverage AI at full capacity to create projects and ideas, others may only lean on this technology as a way to speed up workflows and automate certain creative tasks.
I’m not here to judge either way, because I believe AI will ultimately boost our creative potential.
But using AI to only create the finished product (based on the first stage of ideation, which may have also used only AI) skips over step 2.
So let’s explore why this step is important and why AI can’t replace it.
Let’s look at why AI fails to deliver on “process”.
AI and Creativity (why AI can’t replace “story”)
Let’s first define “story”.
In the creative cycle, story (or process) is the journey the creator takes to get from some initial idea to some finished result.
It’s like the rising action and climax of a good story.
So we’ve established that AI functions and excels at two core pieces of the creativity puzzle: initial ideation and final results.
But it doesn’t cultivate or share the creative process and story.
In many ways, it enhances it, for sure – but it shortcuts the path from ideation straight to result.
This is why AI cannot fully replace creativity (just enhance it).
But let’s explore my reasoning a bit more. Let’s talk about the hero’s journey, storytelling and why AI can’t replace the creative process.
The Hero’s Journey (favors the human)
AI will write great stories and create strong, emotive visuals. No doubt.
But if we look deeper, the origins and sources of those stories are missing a core human component – so the creative project as a whole is taken down a notch or two (at least).
Essentially, I argue there will always be an innate human craving to peak behind the scenes.
We want the coming-up narrative. The underdog’s journey and the origin story.
The process.
Following an AI’s journey is simply less engaging and less inspiring than following a fellow human’s journey and story of having a dream, trying and failing forward and eventually breaking through.
And this is a core piece of the creativity cycle puzzle. Every project or creative endeavor has a long, muddy middle part full of ups and downs.
And it’s this love of story and journey that inspires us.
Long story short?
We crave great stories – and the creative process is always a great story to be told.
(Plus, the whole experience of the creative process creates more inspiration and better creativity)
Our 5 Senses + the Nuances of Creative Storytelling
Can AI ever fully represent our sensory and emotional experience as humans?
Because these things are what make great art and creativity (and a great story).
I do think AI will continue to get impressively good at writing compelling, emotionally-driven scripts. But I feel like there’s a limit.
I mean, what makes great writing? Why do epic stories, great lyrics and compelling scripts resonate with us so deeply?
Well, I suppose there are lots of reasons…
But a big one (for me) is our ability to accurately express and empathize human senses and experiences through relatable senses and experiences.
AI can copy, mimic and make pretty good guesses or replicas (and will probably continue to get better at this).
But I am skeptical if it can ever truly experience the senses or emotions needed to convey a truly compelling human story.
For example, there’s an obvious sensory and experiential detachment from AI knowing what chocolate tastes like, or what love feels like, or the nuanced awkwardness of adolescence.
These things are critical ingredients for meaningful creativity, art and story.
But of course, I’m no expert in this field.
I’m also not someone who likes to make conclusive predictions with 100% certainty.
So this is just my current paradigm and lens. And I am keen to know your thoughts on this.
Do you think AI will be able to portray the human experience and all of our complex emotions and senses to the same degree as, well, us humans?
The New Way (6 ways AI enhances creativity)
In my humble view, AI is not bad or scary.
I’m an optimist and I see an exciting future – especially for creatives and the creative cycle or process.
So let’s look at a few of the ways AI can enhance how we make cool creative stuff.
AI will help in coming up with creative ideas and concepts to try
AI can boost efficiency by automating and doing a lot of the boring tasks, freeing up time for more productive creativity
AI is another tool in our arsenal of creativity resources
AI challenges us to think in new ways and to use new tools and tech (which creates more creativity and inspiration)
AI can help us flesh out ideas and make connections quicker during brainstorming and ideation
AI can serve as another platform and genre of art and creativity – new technology always leads to new ideas and innovations
Creatively Embracing AI (4 tips)
If I had to sum up the theme of this post, it’d be this:
AI will make us creatively stronger and more agile, but it can’t replace the critical elements of human creativity.
So let’s explore some practical tips so we can use artificial intelligence to our advantage.
Because speeding up our workflows, boosting our creative productivity and leveraging tools and tech to enhance our inspiration is awesome stuff.
These are my top macro tips for embracing artificial intelligence as a creative person.
1. Hone Your Mindset
I put mindset in the same basket as creative self care.
How we perceive and experience new (or old) challenges, difficulties and failures ultimately depends on our mindset.
Our mindset plays a huge role in our emotional (and physical) wellbeing.
Leveraging the power of our mind will be an invaluable tool in embracing AI for creativity.
For example, rather than asking “How will AI compete with my creativity?”, try asking “How will AI enhance my creativity?”.
It’s a subtle, but important, shift.
It reframes the situation as optimistic and supports a growth mindset approach to change, new technology adopting and AI-enhanced creativity.
So I say practice honing a creative growth mindset and viewing AI adopting as simply the next chapter and tool to be leveraged.
2. Be Flexible and Curious (never stop learning)
Rather than fearing what we don’t understand, we should embrace learning about it.
Of course, I’m talking about tech and AI here.
Stacking skills is always a great strategy. It’s one of those things that keeps us front and center in our industry – and relevant.
This definitely circles back to having the right mindset.
But a great first step to embracing AI adoption in the creative cycle is by studying it, learning it and staying forever curious about it.
Even if you don’t plan on using it, understanding what it can (and can’t do) will make your art and creativity more resilient and stronger.
3. Don’t Avoid AI Tools – Start Using Them
There will be plenty of famed AI artists and musicians. We’re already seeing this.
AI artists are simply people who are able to use and apply AI tools in a disproportionately creative way.
For example, creative prompt engineering and using AI as a collaboration tool (adding your own spice and human touch onto the AI contributions).
We’ve been here before…many times. Tech-enhanced creativity is nothing new.
It’s the same as the ability to use premade loops and synths and automations in our music production process. It’s commonplace and it’s tech-enhanced creativity.
Does using these built-for-you musical tools strip away creativity? No, it makes it easier. It’s just a different way of making music compared to decades ago.
It’s the same for AI.
So never stop learning and start skill stacking on how you can use and leverage to become a stronger creative.
4. Focus On Story and Your Unique Journey
I suppose this last tip boils down to one key word: brand.
Also, it’s the whole theme of this post (i.e., the importance of and role of humans vs. AI in storytelling and the creative process).
So one of the best ways to embrace AI as a creative is to double down on your brand story, image and differentiation as a creative.
All of the new tech and AI in the world can’t replace you.
So build your creative brand leveraging your story and unique journey. Then, simply use AI (and other tech) to better share that story.
This is the future of AI and creativity.
AI will allow us to more easily crush the creative process.
But AI cannot tell our unique creative story.
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