AI: Evolution, Not Extinction

AI didn’t replace my creativity. It amplified it.

For years since 1993, to be exact I wrestled with digital tools. I spent decades in Photoshop marathons, making endless tweaks and squinting at pixels, trying to force ideas into shape. I didn’t love the grind; I endured it because it was the only way to get close to what was in my head.

Then AI came along. Not as a shortcut, but as a spark. Now I build faster, with less eye strain and more room to actually create.

🛠️ AI Is Not a Button , It’s a Process

People who’ve never made digital art think it’s all button-mashing. Add AI to the mix, and they assume it’s even lazier. They’re wrong.

My workflow is a loop: Write. Refine. Reject. Repeat.

Sometimes I draft solo. Sometimes I tag in my local LLMs or cloud tools to challenge, extend, or interrogate an idea. It’s a conversation, not a delegation. AI doesn’t think for me. It thinks with me. Like a musician learning a new instrument, or a writer sparring with an editor, the tools are collaborators. The vision? That’s mine.

🎨 The "Real Art" Debate

This isn't my first rodeo with the "is it art?" crowd.

In the late 80s, I exhibited my surreal acrylics at a local library. I stood in the corner a peculiar gothic kid listening to the feedback. Some loved it. Others called it "talentless rubbish."

It taught me early on that art is subjective, and the definition of "real art" is often just gatekeeping dressed up as purity.

I saw the same panic in the 80s when I spent my first pay packets on synthesizers and drum machines. The musical world was in an uproar that these "soulless machines" would kill live music. They didn't. They just invited more people to the party.

Today, the AI artist faces that same derision. We are the synth players of the 2020s.

🧱 The Double Standards

Here’s the absurd bit about the modern landscape: AI tools are hyped in ads and sold as premium features by the big tech giants. But the moment creators actually use them? Suddenly it’s "inauthentic."

Some platforms bury AI content. Others flag it while simultaneously boosting filters and influencer polish that is anything but raw or human. I’m not playing that game.

🎯 What Actually Matters

I don't hide my process. I blend instinct, curiosity, experience, and AI.

I started using AI image generators in mid-2022, decades after my time at the Art Institute of Seattle. I embrace the tech because imagination is paramount. Whether you are using moss on a cave wall, a neon spray can, or a GPU farm, the tool is secondary.

The only test that counts is this: Does it move you? Does it make you think, smile, or feel something strange?

If the answer is yes, the method is irrelevant. I’m not chasing tradition for tradition’s sake. I’m exploring new territory with my AI wingman, and I’m doing it honestly.