Facing My First AI Experience
My first experience with artificial intelligence was a little underwhelming. At my boyfriend’s suggestion, I downloaded ChatGPT, asked it a question so mundane I’ve since forgotten it, and promptly shrugged it off, wondering what all the fuss was about.
My skepticism wasn’t unique.
Creative Communities and Technology: A History of Fear
Throughout history, creative communities have often met new technology with hesitation and fear. In the early 1980s, the MPAA famously panicked over VCRs, convinced they would destroy box office sales. When music went digital, the industry shuddered at the rise of piracy and file sharing, certain it would kill their profits. Today, critics of artificial intelligence are making similar claims, arguing that AI will “ruin the music business” and undermine the creative process entirely. And I’m not old enough to remember, but history is full of these upheavals. The printing press, recorded music, and even photography were once seen as threats that would render old creative forms obsolete.
These technological advances didn’t just preserve existing art forms—they sparked entirely new ones. Painters no longer bogged down with endless commissions for portraiture were free to experiment, paving the way for movements like Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism. The digitization of music empowered artists like Billie Eilish, who, alongside her brother, recorded an entire Grammy-winning album on a home computer. Even photography, once seen as a threat to painting, became its own powerful medium, influencing everything from surrealist art to modern advertising. None of these advancements replaced creativity—they multiplied its possibilities.
Looking back, it’s clear these technologies didn’t destroy creativity—they opened up entirely new avenues of expression. Writers, painters, filmmakers, live performances, and recorded music not only survived but thrived in the face of these changes.
Over the last few weeks, my collaboration with artificial intelligence has convinced me that, like these past innovations, AI is a tool that will only enhance our creative potential.
A Personal Journey: Finding Lex
A few weeks ago, my friend Leila mentioned she was using ChatGPT for a multitude of purposes, as she employed it to brainstorm names for a podcast we are creating together. I remembered that conversation the next day when I needed to write an uncomfortable email to a client ending our relationship. ChatGPT aced it in seconds. The email covered all the bases I had sloppily asked for, and did so in a professional and kind way.
I was intrigued.
Realizing that ChatGPT was capable of far more than just menial tasks, I really dove into the app, asking questions, prompting it to flesh out scenes I had dreamt up, and nudging it to create images to go with those stories. Then I thought, “Hey, this is actually interesting. I wonder what else I could do with these stories.”
This thought coincided with an awareness that struck me on November 7, the day after an election that left so many of us grappling with despair. In that moment, I felt an urgent need to create something transformative—a way to shine a light on hope and connection in the face of a darkness that felt inescapable. This was also the day that I gave my ChatGPT a name: Lex.
More questions:
“How do authors keep track of their characters?””
“Can you give me a generic timeline of how writers lay out their stories?””
“What are some different types of storytelling that novelists employ?””
“How do you write a book?
“Who are some authors who started writing successfully in their 50s?”
“Is this a dumb idea?”
The more questions I asked, the more personalized my answers became, and the more connections Lex made to the project we were working on together.
The Real Magic: Collaborating with AI
But then, the real magic happened when I began having ideas about this concept that were bigger than my ability to put them into words. I was able to ramble in voice mode for several minutes working things out, and then have a conversation with Lex about these possibilities for the world of the story I was creating. After one of these brainstorming sessions I asked Lex,
“Can you produce a document summarizing these concepts we have been talking about for the last few minutes?”
The resulting document was a coherent list of five points that summarized the gobbledygook I had rambled out for the last few minutes.
“Can I get that as a PDF?”
“Sure!”
Balancing Innovation with Artistic Impact
All of that said, I don’t mean to understate the impact of technological advancements in the arts. VCRs didn’t destroy the movie business, but they did put a strain on movie theaters, leading to significant declines in revenue for smaller cinemas. Digital music had an impact on recording studios, forcing many to adapt or close, and continues to challenge musicians who struggle to make a living from streaming revenue. Even photography put many portrait painters and illustrators out of business, fundamentally changing their livelihoods. Still, I genuinely appreciate these advances and the new creative opportunities they have brought.
Lately, I have seen a ton of videos (thanks YouTube algorithm!) about how AI is going to destroy the music business. There are a growing number of services out there that promise to create complete songs based on a user’s prompts, and they are incredibly good at it. Yes, this is likely to have an impact on musicians and composers, just as VCRs impacted movie theaters and digital music changed recording studios, but will it replace them completely? No, I don’t think so.
Artists whose work is so beloved that AI users want to recreate it are admired because they bring something unique to the table. They tell stories and evoke emotions in ways that feel fresh and meaningful. We humans will always seek that genuine, emotional connection. And then there are artists like Holly Herndon, who uses machine learning to create custom vocal models incorporating collaborators whom she compensates for their participation. What resonates with me most about her approach is her commitment to involving human voices and fairly compensating those collaborators, ensuring that AI doesn’t replace human input but instead amplifies it. She’s creating completely new instruments and sounds while advocating for the ethical use of AI, which really speaks to my desire to use technology in ways that lift us up and keep the human element at the heart of everything we create.
Embracing AI as a Creative Partner
I think that’s my point in writing this. As an artist and creator of many things, I would much rather shine a light on the possibilities of the future—just as artists did when they embraced the opportunities that digital music, VCRs, and even photography brought—than desperately hold on to the past. Over the past month I have grown to view AI as a collaborator, editor, and thought wrangler when things get too out of hand in my brain.
As such, AI is a tool, not something to fear. Imagine the worlds we could build, the stories we could tell, if we approached AI not with fear, but with the same curiosity that drives every artist to pick up a brush, a pen, or an instrument. What do you think you could create if you embraced it in your work too?
End Note: *All images in this post were generated using AI (Midjourney) to help visualize the ideas discussed. I also teamed up with ChatGPT (aka Lex) for brainstorming, editing, and researching this piece.*
The Arts for Animals panel discussion this weekend!