ISSUE TEN: PERSON-IFICATION or..."Choosing + Activating AI Without Losing Your Soul"
personification noun
per·son·i·fi·ca·tion pər-ˌsä-nə-fə-ˈkā-shən
1 : attribution of personal qualities especially : representation of a thing or abstraction as a person or by the human form
Okay so… let's talk about the thing we're all thinking about but maybe not saying out loud. AI. Artificial Intelligence. The technology that feels somewhere between a lifeline and a threat, depending on who you ask and what day of the week it is. This topic is heavily charged—an emerging market where the impacts on our work and livelihoods feel fraught and liberating simultaneously. And here's what I'm observing across my client base: we can't keep pretending this technology doesn't exist while simultaneously feeling anxious about falling behind. That cognitive dissonance? Exhausting. And it's not serving any of us.
So let's dive in. Not with hype, not with fear-mongering, but with the grounded, reality-based approach that creative entrepreneurs actually need right now.
The Beautiful Tension (And The Question That Matters)
I've been having a lot of conversations with creative business owners—my clients, as well as those beyond my one-on-one work—lately. And most recently we focused on Ai during October's Weird Specialty Salon night at my lovely studio.
Real people. In a real environment. Talking about technology that is both completely unreal... and yet totally real and certainly most definitely SURREAL.
Most are in some way, even if just occasionally, AI users—from dipping in for specific tasks like writing, research, or image or content generation. But few are thinking about how pervasive this technology is already, nor exploring the myriad ways to integrate it. In part because the LLM's (i.e. large language models) have sorta dominated the media/mind space tbh.
What I've found is a rather cautious, even more skeptical or apprehensive position in terms of use of AI.
Totally reasonable IMO, but also maybe too cautious. Im finding most have concerns about this technology, but genuinely want to understand it better. The tool everyone knows? ChatGPT. Legitimately the one used most, but not necessarily by choice (lack of interest in exploring other platforms and models) IMO. Regardless, the question we're all asking?
How do we use these tools without losing what makes our businesses uniquely ours?
This question right here—it's the whole damn ballgame.
And soOooOOoooOOoo - Here's What I'm Really Thinking About...
We want, but more importantly need efficiency and support, but not at the cost of the craft and care (if we protect our ideas, POV & signature 'touch') that define our distinctive businesses. I keep coming back to: It's super important for all of us to really understand how we feel individually and professionally about how we engage with technological advancements before just swallowing them whole. Because that's what's happening everywhere else, right? People are either blindly adopting AI because they're afraid of being left behind, or they're reflexively rejecting it because they're afraid of losing their humanity. Both responses? Totally understandable. Also? Neither is particularly strategic.
THE BASICS (Because Most of Us Are Getting This Wrong) Let me cut through the hype and deliver the fundamentals that determine whether you get generic garbage or something actually useful. My mantra? PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE. If you prioritize what you input, your output will be better. Simple but revolutionary for folks who've been frustrated with AI results.
The key principles:
All these models are making guesses (so vagueness kills!)
Be EXPLICIT in every prompt
Take things one step at a time rather than making giant asks
Embrace the critique-then-revise loop
The key is iteration—AI is a collaborator, not a magic wand.
ASSESS THYSELF (Or Risk Becoming Everyone Else)
Here's one of the most critical steps: understand your uniqueness—voice, tone, vibe—BEFORE using AI for client-facing work.
Try this exercise:
IDENTIFY YOUR UNIQUE IP: You gotta know, or identify what you are creating & selling, beyond your own identity and desired output.
YOU GOTTA USE YOUR FOUNDATION: From Value Proposition, to Brand Suite to Competitive Analysis. It's vital for you to have the capacity to utilize your brand IP in detail—how do you typically communicate? What words would you never use? What's your vibe?
LET TECHNOLOGY GIVE YOU SOME PERSPECTIVE: Ask AI to audit your website copy and compare what it sees to what you described. Then build in time to reflect and recalibrate.
REMEMBER: Your Weird Specialty is your Strategic Advantage. AI should amplify that, not homogenize it out of existence. If you don't know what makes your voice distinctive, AI will flatten it into generic corporate speak. Every. Single. Time. Don't forget to look from the outside in — What you want to create and sell may be different from what other want from you & it is imperative to confront when trying to build a business that can sustain you.
Perhaps the most resonant message—and the thing I feel most passionately about—is this: REAL PEOPLE MATTER (This MUST Be The Hill We Die On)
Writers have always been my best investment. Designers make you stand out, especially now with AI models creating visual homogeneity everywhere you look.
Investing in visual identity is only becoming MORE important because of AI. Full stop.
At the end of the day, I think it's absolutely important to invest in both AI and—more importantly—the value of human-centered work.
Moving Forward
Here's what I want you to take away from this:
You're a creative running a business on your own terms. What does that look like in the future?? We get to decide how—or whether—we integrate these tools. The landscape is changing. Fast. But that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice what makes your work special just to keep up. Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is move thoughtfully while everyone else is sprinting toward the next shiny thing.
Stay grounded and present in how you make choices about technology—neither blindly embracing nor reflexively rejecting, but thoughtfully exploring how these tools might serve (or not serve) your distinctive business.
Because at the end of the day, the goal isn't to keep up with AI. The goal is to build a sustainable creative business that lets you do your best work. If AI helps with that? Great. If it doesn't? Also great. You get to choose.
Do what speaks authentically to you and your audience. The rest is just noise.
#getwithit
gJ
