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When it comes to AI and creativity, I’m torn. On the one hand, these tools are opening up new possibilities faster than we can keep track of. On the other, a lot of what’s coming out of them feels like slightly different versions of the same thing. And I say this as someone who actively experiments with AI in my own work.

I’ve always worked with a mix of media: scanning, printing, analog photography, digital collaging. My visuals might look messy, naive, sometimes even a little amateurish, but that’s intentional. It’s meant to feel a bit like something a teenager would make messing around in Photoshop for the first time. Ironically, that kind of rough, unpolished aesthetic is exactly what AI struggles with. Most AI-generated images I’ve seen are too clean, too coherent. They lack tension, and for me, tension is where creativity lives.

That’s where the “more of the same” side comes in. AI tools pull from huge visual databases and merge everything into smooth, seamless compositions. But my work thrives on contrast: a low-res scan paired with a sharp digital texture, a badly cut-out photo thrown against a clean vector. AI tends to flatten those differences. It made me realize how valuable human unpredictability still is in the creative process.

That said, I’ve also had moments with AI that genuinely inspired me. When I first tested AI tools a few years ago, I saw compositions and visual ideas that completely surprised me. It felt like magic, and it reminded me why I chase those moments of unpredictability in the first place. That’s the “endless possibilities” side. If you approach these tools with curiosity, without expecting them to do the creative thinking for you, they can lead you somewhere unexpected.

I think the issue isn’t the tool itself, but how we’re collectively using it. Social media, for example, already encourages a kind of visual sameness – loud, glossy, algorithm-friendly content. And now AI makes it even easier and faster to produce that kind of work. So there’s a risk that things will get more uniform, not less. Every new creative technology, from desktop publishing to Instagram filters, has had its “everything looks the same” phase. And then someone figures out how to break it open. I think AI’s real potential lies in helping people who don’t fit the mold. Not everyone wants to be loud and competitive online. AI can empower quieter creatives, people working independently, or those with weird, specific visions to realize their ideas without huge budgets.

For me, AI is just another tool. It can save me hours cutting out images or generating quick drafts. But the spark, the weird idea that shouldn’t work but somehow does, still has to come from me. 

In the end, it’s both. AI has the potential to unlock endless possibilities or churn out more of the same. It all comes down to who’s behind the tool, how curious they are, and whether they’re open to the weird, the imperfect, and the unexpected.

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