AI for Creatives: Friend or Foe?
AI for creatives has been considered a threat of some kind. How much truth is in there? How can you leverage AI tools for creatives without killing our jobs? Find out in this article. Before last…
AI for creatives has been considered a threat of some kind. How much truth is in there? How can you leverage AI tools for creatives without killing our jobs? Find out in this article.
Before last year, people mostly found Artificial Intelligence (AI) useful in automating mundane, non-creative tasks. That is until AI tools for creatives such as Midjourney and OpenAI suddenly got a surge in popularity and the number of users.
Providing creative services ourselves, we understand how art generators and content generators can pose a threat to our industry. There was a point when we at Chykalophia, as we're sure many of you did too, started questioning, "Can AI be creative, really? Are the robots seriously going to take our jobs?"
Along with other AI-related concerns and worries.
Why are people against Artificial Intelligence?
Like any other tool, AI for creatives can be used for good and bad. However, we've noticed these five common reasons people are against the tools, both AI tools for creatives and other machine learning software.
- Fear of job loss
- Low quality of work
- Privacy and security concerns
- Might lower the value of creative work
- Plagiarism and copyright concerns
But, hey, AI tools are created by fellow humans to help, not threaten us. So, how do you leverage AI tools for your creative scope of work, say graphic design, content writing and copywriting, and art creation?
AI can generate a hundred directions. It still can't tell you which one is yours.
How to co-create with AI for creatives
Little did we know that AI has been around since the 1950s. It was made to make our work easier, and we have seen how it benefits us in various automation processes, taking the weight of mundane, repetitive tasks off our shoulders.
While it's true that AI was previously only used for administrative and technical work, there are ways we can use AI for creatives without threatening our source of income. Remember the saying, "If you can't beat them, join them." And here are what you can do to co-create with AI for creatives, instead of avoiding it like a plague.
Find more inspirations faster
When designer's block or writer's block strikes and any Google search you do doesn't seem to give you satisfying results, you can try asking ChatGPT for help.
Even our content teams talk to ChatGPT and our design team plays around with MidJourney from time to time, treating the software as one of our ideation aids and sources of information. Although, when it comes to finding data and quoting resources, we still find search engines more reliable.
How to do it
- Describe your block and constraints to ChatGPT and ask for 15 divergent directions, not one polished answer.
- Pull the 2-3 threads that surprise you into Midjourney or a moodboard.
- Fact-check any names, stats, or quotes with Perplexity or a search engine before you rely on them.
See a worked example
For example, a designer stuck on a fintech hero section could ask ChatGPT for 15 metaphors for 'secure and fast', get a few unexpected directions to explore, then chase the strongest ones visually. The point is momentum, not a finished answer.
Tools to use
ChatGPT to generate a wide spread of directions, Midjourney to turn the best into quick visuals, and Perplexity to verify any facts with linked sources.
Steal our AI prompt
I'm a [describe your role] working on [describe the project and audience]. I'm stuck on [describe the specific creative block]. Give me 15 divergent directions I could explore, ranging from safe to unexpected, and for each add one line on why it might work. Don't repeat ideas, and flag any that rely on facts I'd need to verify. Here's the brief so far: [paste].
Create the first draft
First drafts should never see the light of day and, for that, it is totally plausible to have an ugly first draft, which you can make using AI tools for creatives.
Many LinkedIn users have expressed their concerns about low-quality results from content generators such as ChatGPT, Jasper, or CopyAI. Instead of bashing the software, why not co-create with it? Treat the AI-generated content as the rough first draft and craft it into high-quality work that's on par with your standard.
How to do it
- Feed the tool your brief, audience, and tone, and generate 2-3 rough drafts rather than one.
- Keep only the structure or single line that works and rewrite the rest in your own voice.
- Run a fact and originality check before anything gets published.
See a worked example
For example, a copywriter could have Copy.ai or Jasper spin out three rough intro paragraphs for a service page, keep the one angle that lands, and rewrite it entirely in the brand voice instead of shipping the AI text as-is.
Tools to use
Steal our AI prompt
Write a rough first draft of a [describe deliverable, e.g. 500-word service page] for [describe audience]. Tone: [describe]. This is a throwaway draft I will fully rewrite, so prioritize covering the key points over polish. Base it on this brief and any notes: [paste]. End with a bulleted list of any claims I should verify before publishing.
Get in touch with your artistic soul
Sometimes, working in the digital industry forces us to abandon our artistic soul. Our job titles may pronounce UI/UX 'designer', web 'designer, or graphic 'designer', yet most of the time our work needs to be more on the rational side, based on research and data that provides reasons why we create what we create.
Playing around the AI for creatives allows us to revisit our creative and artistic side. Try typing in some prompts on MidJourney or DALL E and see how they turn out. These art generators can also be satisfying for designers who don't know how to draw, according to our CEO & Head of Strategy, Ari Krzyzek.
How to do it
- Pick a personal, non-client theme (a lyric, a memory, a mood) and write it as a prompt.
- Generate variations in Midjourney or Adobe Firefly, changing one variable at a time such as medium, lighting, or era.
- For anything that could go near commercial work, favor Adobe Firefly for its licensed-content training.
See a worked example
For example, a UX designer who spent the week on data-driven wireframes could spend 20 minutes turning a personal lyric into images. Reach for Adobe Firefly when the output might touch client or commercial work, since it is trained on licensed and public-domain content.
Tools to use
Midjourney for expressive personal exploration, Adobe Firefly for licensed-content generation that is safer for commercial use, and ChatGPT (DALL-E) for quick conversational image generation.
Steal our AI prompt
[describe a personal mood, memory, or lyric in a few words], rendered as [describe a medium, e.g. risograph print, oil painting, 35mm film photo], with [describe lighting and color palette] and [describe composition or camera angle]. Give me four variations that each shift one of those elements so I can compare directions.
Have a creative exercise
Did you know that experimenting with AI prompts can be a good exercise for your creative muscles?
You might even surprise yourself with what you can create or ideas you can find when you take the time to put in a well-crafted prompt.
How to do it
- Set a 15-minute timer and pick a single subject.
- Write five prompts that each change only one thing (style, medium, lighting, era, or mood) and generate them side by side.
- Browse PromptHero to reverse-engineer the prompts behind images you admire and note the wording patterns.
See a worked example
For example, you could run a weekly 15-minute prompt sprint: take one everyday object and reimagine it in five wildly different styles, using PromptHero to study how small wording changes swing the result.
Tools to use
PromptHero to search real prompts behind AI images, Midjourney to run the sprint, and Canva AI for low-stakes free-tier experimentation.
Steal our AI prompt
Act as a prompt-writing coach. Give me five progressively bolder image-prompt variations for the subject '[describe subject]'. Each variation should change exactly one dimension (style, medium, lighting, era, or mood) and note in one line what changed and why it shifts the feel. Keep each prompt under 40 words.
Save costs
This one is for startups or small businesses. Before you commit to hiring a creative team, you can try working with AI tools for creatives first. Once you have enough budget and resources to scale up, you can start hiring and AI can be your supporting tool.
How to do it
- List the creative tasks you'd otherwise outsource and match each to a free or low-cost AI tool.
- Use Canva's free plan for design and ChatGPT for copy to ship a good-enough v1.
- Set a concrete trigger (revenue, traffic, or a launch date) at which you hire a human creative and move AI to a supporting role.
See a worked example
For example, a pre-revenue founder could ship launch graphics with Canva's free plan and first-pass copy with ChatGPT, then bring in a designer once there's budget and demote AI to a support tool rather than the whole team.
Tools to use
Steal our AI prompt
I run a [describe business] with a near-zero creative budget. Here are the creative assets I need in the next 30 days: [paste list]. For each one, suggest a free or low-cost AI tool and a realistic good-enough-for-now approach, and flag which ones will genuinely need a human creative before we scale.
So, are AI tools for creatives friends or foes?
There's a place and time to use AI in your creative process. But most of the time, we humans still need to get the work done. That is, if you want your work to look and sound human, not robotic.
Let's start co-creating with AI tools for creatives. Make them your weapon to be a powerful designer, writer, artist, or any other creative title you give yourself.
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