The Best (and Worst) Ways to Use AI in Creative Work

Tips from a working creative on drawing the right lines with AI tools

Robot Writer — Rendered by the author in DALL-E

These days, there seem to be two kinds of people when it comes to using AI to assist with any sort of creative work.

The first kind loves AI, uses it for everything, and lets it run the show from start to finish, because they think AI-generated content is not only undetectable but that the tech behind it is infallible. (They have a lot to learn and will probably learn it the hard way.) The second kind won’t touch it, refuses to learn it, and thinks it’s the devil for any number of reasons.

I’m neither of these types. I occupy an often overlooked third category.

If you’ve known me long, then you’re also aware that I’ve long ago incorporated the use of tools like Midjourney or DALL-E into my artwork and visual content. I was also once very active in online spaces dedicated to learning and mastering AI tools, especially for art or video. I consistently use these tools when I need images or videos, whether that’s to play around with an idea for self-expression or whip up a quick visual to add to something I’m publishing.

I hold a slightly different personal stance toward using AI writing tools. I don’t care to allow AI to write my content for me, as that defeats the purpose of writing in the first place. However, I do use tools like ChatGPT nearly daily to help streamline certain parts of the process for me.

I brainstorm with it. I reorganize outlines with it. I use it to help me manage my creative time. I occasionally toss it a dense idea and see what it spits back just to shake the dust off my own creative gears. I also enjoy identifying ways to expand on different topics by simply talking to my GPT assistant about different things.

But I don’t rely on it or let it run the show. And that’s where I see a lot of people go wrong.

What AI Is Great For (in My Experience)

AI tools like ChatGPT can do a lot. But there are still some things they absolutely can’t do, no matter how many follow-up prompts you throw at them or how convinced you are that they “understand” what you’re asking on the same level a human assistant would.

AI isn’t going anywhere, regardless of how you might feel about it. So my advice to people is generally to at least develop an understanding of the tools, but also to be aware of what the limitations are. Some of the things AI gets right when it comes to creative pursuits include:

• Helping you come up with ideas or fresh angles on a topic when you’re stuck. AI can do this at scale, without judgment and without tiring.

• Organizing scattered thoughts (especially helpful for neurodivergent folks like me). Throw it a tangled mess of notes and bullet points, and it’ll return a semi-logical outline or starting draft. It’s not perfect, but it’s a time-saver.

• Drafting boilerplate content. Think emails, product blurbs, and quick captions for ads or social media shares. AI can bang out passable drafts of the stuff you’d rather not spend brainpower on.

• Adjusting tone or format. Want your serious piece to sound more playful? Need to tone-check an email you’re about to send to your boss or a client who’s being a pain in the ass? AI can do that.

Where People Go Wrong With AI (and How Not To)

I see people screwing up with AI and misusing it all the time. Especially these days, as nearly everyone has ChatGPT at this point and uses it at least occasionally. Here’s a closer look at some of the more common mistakes I see people making, as well as some tips for not falling into the same traps yourself.

They treat it like an all-knowing expert

AI is not a writing coach, a subject-matter expert, or a professional editor. It predicts what sounds right based on patterns it’s learned. However, its suggestions may or may not align with what is right.

Use AI as a sounding board, not a fact-checker. And always evaluate its suggestions via your own discernment or do a quick research pass before taking them at face value.

They let it finish their work instead of support it

It’s tempting to ask AI to “write just one more section” or “just finish this draft for me,” but the results are usually bland, repetitive, or tonally off. And people are developing better instincts when it comes to sniffing out AI content in the first place, so you’re not as slick as you think you are.

Instead, use AI to help shape, summarize, or reorganize your own words. Don’t have it do your work for you, and never substitute the AI’s voice for your own.

They use it to proofread rather than review

AI proofreading can feel helpful when it comes to some of the basics. But your AI assistant doesn’t know your audience, style, or intent the way you do. It will almost certainly contradict itself or introduce weird new issues, especially if you have it make multiple passes at the same document.

So, use AI’s content improvement suggestions as a checklist, not a Bible. Ask yourself: “Does this genuinely improve the piece, or just sound fancier?”

They mistake confidence for correctness

AI speaks in very confident language, which can make it hard to spot nonsense. It acts sure about things even if it’s totally not sure. And it’s not very honest about its own limitations, either, even if asked directly. So, if you’re not paying attention, it’s easy to get misled.

Stay critical. Ask the AI to explain its suggestions and see if that clarifies anything. (If it doesn’t, that’s your sign.) Understand that AI is far from perfect and treat it accordingly.

They assume AI knows when to stop

Let me tell you right now — it doesn’t. AI will always find more to fix, even if nothing’s broken, especially with revision or editing prompts. Sometimes it even contradicts itself.

So set boundaries, both with yourself and with your AI assistants. Decide ahead of time what you want AI to focus on, and reject anything outside that scope. Otherwise, your AI will have you editing in circles all day long.

How to Use AI Well (Without Letting It Hijack Your Voice)

As I said above, I’m far from an AI hater. I find the technology fascinating, and it’s made my life easier in ways that genuinely surprised me. AI has helped me manage my time better, learn things faster, and take some of my best ideas further than I ever could have taken them all by myself.

But, holy shit, can things ever go sideways fast if you over-rely on AI or don’t guide it well enough.

Use it early, not late

Brainstorming? Organizing? First-pass structuring? Those are all great instances where AI can be super helpful. But when it comes to word choice, personal nuance, and last-minute polishing? That’s strictly your job. Delegate it at your own risk.

Be specific with prompts

Whether you’re working with Midjourney to illustrate a weird dream you had last night or having ChatGPT help you restructure a blog post, prompts that are clear and specific are the key to getting it to do what you want.

“Fix this” is vague. “Make this more concise without changing the tone” gives you a better result and more control.

Don’t feed it garbage

“Garbage in, garbage out” definitely applies to situations where you’re bringing AI into your creative process to help with something. Bad input = bad output. Give AI clear, high-quality material to work from, or you’ll spend more time fixing its output than you would if you’d just kept it old school.

Keep your fingerprints on the work

Even when using AI to help you pound out impersonal content (e.g., product descriptions) or shape an idea that’s not quite clear in your mind, always use the output as a jumping-off point at most. It’s up to you to process whatever it gave you and reshape it using your own unique voice.

Readers can tell when something’s been run through the robo-processor one too many times.

Trust your instincts

By now, I’d assume that most writers have at least used Grammarly here and there to help them proofread and edit their content. Use Grammarly for long, and you’ll also quickly realize that sometimes its suggestions are absolute bullshit. Other AI-powered tools are no better.

So, if something doesn’t feel right, even if the AI insists it “flows better this way,” listen to that gut feeling. You’re the artist and the human being in this scenario, not the AI. You know when something lands and when it doesn’t.

AI Is a Tool, Not a Creator

Seriously, as an early adopter of some of this tech, I’m the first to say that AI is powerful. It’s exciting. It’s genuinely helpful when it comes to so many parts of the creative process. But it’s not a substitute for vision, taste, or human experience.

It can’t write a better version of your story than you can. It can’t replace the lived wisdom and raw emotion behind your insights. And it certainly can’t hold your voice the way you can.

So go ahead and use it. Let it amplify your ideas and help you maximize their potential. But make sure you’re still the one doing the thinking, the feeling, and the choosing.