I get it. First off, change can be uncomfortable, and this is a pretty big and scary change for some people. Having everyone shouting about how generative AI can do everything is not only annoying, but it comes off as a challenge. Like, ok, so why am I even needed if AI is so great? (You are, see this post about that) And secondly, you have a process that helps you create great work why do you need robots to help you with that?

Honestly, you might not need to use generative AI in your work. You might be able to keep doing what you do, come up with phenomenal ideas, sell them, shoot them and go pick up your next award without missing a beat. And honestly high five for knowing what works for you, and being true to it. But you are still going to need to collaborate with people who are using AI somewhere in the production of your work, so it makes sense to learn how some of these tools work.

The other thing is that getting to know how things like chatGPT or Midjourney (for example) work will give you a better idea of what they can (and can’t) do. It will make you feel a lot better to experience first hand what all the hype is about, because I promise after the initial OMG HOW COOL IS THIS wears off all you will see is how you can make the AI output better. Or sometimes how it really is so far off from human creativity that it’s laughable (and might even spark an idea for your next award).

Also, my guess would be that you will find some value in using some of these tools at least a little bit in your work. And if you let your robot friends do the stuff they rock at - like finding patterns and putting together output based on your prompts that can be useful as a sketch or brain dump - you’ll have more time to do the things humans are best at. Like being creative, asking “what if” and “why not” and bringing your passion to life.

It’s 100% ok to not love AI. Marie Kondo (before the baby) it: Whatever does not spark joy, toss. But make sure you get to know what you are saying no to first, if for no other reason than to tell people solid reasons you don’t want to use it when you’re asked.