AI, Creativity and the Human Spark: Why We Still Need to Think, Create and Connect

We live in a time when almost everything is becoming faster.

We can translate a text in seconds, find the answer to a question before we have had time to think about it ourselves, generate ideas, edit photographs, transcribe conversations and ask artificial intelligence to help us with almost anything.

I use AI myself. I have used it to improve recipes when I feel that something is missing, to help translate texts, to research subjects and to get certain things done more efficiently. 

So I am certainly not against artificial intelligence.

But recently, I attended a conversation about AI and creativity that made me think about something else: What happens when a tool that is designed to make our lives easier also makes it possible to avoid the process of thinking, struggling, learning and creating for ourselves?

And perhaps even more importantly: What happens when we forget that the process itself has value?

Everything is evolution

One thought that kept coming back to me is that everything is evolution.

There is a wonderful painting called American Progress by John Gast, created in 1872. It presents an allegorical vision of American expansion and technological progress, with new forms of transportation and communication moving into the landscape.

Looking at the painting today, I cannot help thinking about how every major technological development has changed the way people work.

When railroads and engines became widespread, they changed transportation and affected professions that had existed for generations. Yet we would not have the world we live in today without those developments.

Technology changes our lives. It changes our jobs. It changes what we consider necessary.

AI will do the same.

Some tasks will become faster. Some jobs will change. Some skills may become less important, while entirely new ones emerge.

That does not necessarily make technology the enemy.

Perhaps the more important question is how we choose to use it.

AI as a tool, not a replacement

I have personally been using AI since the beginning, and I actually find it incredibly useful. If I am making a recipe and feel that it needs a little extra something but cannot figure out what, I might ask AI for ideas. I use it for research, translating articles and texts, organizing thoughts and helping me get more done in a shorter amount of time. As someone running a small creative business, having another tool that can save me time can be incredibly helpful.

But I still need to decide what is useful, check the source and ask whether the information actually makes sense.

And I still need to bring my own perspective to it. That last part is particularly important when we talk about writing and creativity. A story is never simply a collection of words.

Context matters.

A story in London can feel completely different from the same story told in Pittsburgh. A person's background, surroundings, memories, relationships and experiences all influence the way they see something.

Two people can experience exactly the same event and come away with completely different stories.

That is part of what makes human creativity so interesting.

We put things together that nobody else would put together in exactly the same way.

AI can process experiences. It cannot live yours.

One thing AI cannot take from us is our lived experience.

It can learn from enormous amounts of information created by human beings. It can recognize patterns in language. It can imitate a particular tone. It can produce something that sounds emotional, thoughtful or personal.

But it does not have your childhood.

It does not remember the smell of your grandmother's kitchen.

It has not experienced falling in love, losing someone, moving to another country, making a mistake or standing in front of a painting and suddenly feeling something you cannot explain.

Those experiences become part of us. They influence our creativity without us even realizing it. This is why I believe that personality still matters enormously.

People do not necessarily want to hear from you because you have found the perfect combination of words.

They want to hear from you because you are you.

Your perspective is part of what you create. And even if AI learns your writing style, your experiences remain yours.

There is something valuable about not knowing

There is another part of this conversation that interests me: the pleasure of figuring something out.

I recently had a conversation with a doctor who rarely uses AI because he wants to continue exercising his own cognitive abilities. I found that fascinating.

Think about those little moments when you cannot remember the name of a song or an actor. We can reach for our phones immediately and have the answer in seconds. Problem solved.

But there is something surprisingly satisfying about sitting there for a moment and allowing your own brain to search for the answer.

The same is true when you are trying to solve a puzzle, write something, develop an idea or create a painting.

Sometimes you struggle. Sometimes you get frustrated. Sometimes nothing seems to work. And then, suddenly, something clicks.

That feeling is part of learning.

If we always remove the difficult part, we also remove the satisfaction of overcoming it.

Creativity is more than the spark

We often romanticize creativity as a sudden spark of inspiration.

And sometimes it really does feel that way. An idea comes together, two completely different things suddenly connect, and you know that you have found something. 

But creativity is also showing up when you do not feel inspired.

There are deadlines. There are unfinished projects. There are moments when you stare at something and wonder why you ever thought it was a good idea.

You keep going anyway.

That is also part of becoming good at something.

Whether you are writing, painting, designing clothes, making music, photographing the world or building a business, there is a long period of learning that nobody sees.

The difficult parts matter. The mistakes matter. The experiments that do not work matter.

And eventually, those experiences become part of your creative voice.

What happens when we make everything instant?

This is where I think the conversation about AI becomes bigger than AI itself.

We already live in a world of instant gratification.

We can order food without cooking. We can watch almost anything immediately. We can communicate with someone on the other side of the world in seconds. We can search for almost any piece of information.

And now we can ask AI to produce an answer before we have even finished forming the question.

Convenience is wonderful but perhaps we also need to practice patience.

Patience with ourselves. Patience with other people. And patience with life.

I was reminded of advice from psychologist Dr. Becky Kennedy about children and frustration. Instead of immediately solving a puzzle for a child who is struggling, she suggests communicating that you believe the child is capable of figuring it out, while remaining there to support them. I love the principle behind this:

Support does not always mean doing something for someone.

Sometimes support means staying beside them while they figure it out and I believe that this principle applies to adults, too.

We still need each other

The article I recently read in Business Traveller focused on AI translation and the way technology can make communication across languages easier.

But it also raised an important point: language is not simply a system of words.

Language carries culture, personality, history and context.

Someone who understands a language deeply also understands things that are difficult to translate literally: humor, rhythm, expressions, cultural references, tone and all those little details that make communication feel human.

Technology can help us cross language barriers but it does not eliminate our need for human connection.

In fact, the attempt to make technology sound more human may tell us something about ourselves.

We keep giving computers voices.

We give them personalities.

We want conversations with them to feel natural.

Why?

Because we are social beings.

We want to be understood. We want to tell our stories. We want someone to look at a situation with us and offer a perspective we could not see on our own.

And sometimes, what we need is not the perfect answer. We need another human being. Someone who has walked a similar path. Someone who can see something from the outside. Someone who can say, Have you thought about looking at it this way? That kind of perspective is difficult to replace.

So, where does that leave us?

I don't think the answer is to reject AI or technology. For me, it is about becoming more conscious about when we use it and why.

Use AI as a helper. Let it save you time. Let it transcribe an interview. Let it help you brainstorm. Let it translate a first draft. Let it help you research a subject.

But investigate the sources yourself. Question what you are given. Think before you accept the answer.

And most importantly, don't give away the parts of the process that make you grow. Because there is a difference between using a tool to help you create and asking a tool to create instead of you.

The first can expand what you are capable of. The second can slowly make you forget what you are capable of.

AI can also help us see what we cannot see yet

There is another way I personally use AI that I have found surprisingly empowering: creating images for my vision board.

I am a very visual person. When I have an idea about where I want my life or work to go, it helps me enormously to actually see it.

Especially when everything around us is changing, having a visual reminder of where I am heading can give me a sense of direction. I can create an image that represents a future I am working towards, and seeing that image can make an abstract idea feel more tangible.

For me, that does not mean asking AI to decide what my future should look like. The vision comes from me.

I decide what I want to see, what it represents and why it matters to me. AI simply gives me another tool for bringing that idea into the visual world.

And perhaps that is another useful way of looking at artificial intelligence: it can help us express something that already exists within us.

The technology can create the picture. But the dream, the intention and the meaning behind it are still ours. Notice how the man and children are intentionally facing away... I didn't want a specific set of features like the appearance to narrow my perspective of the future. I simply wanted to portray a feeling of being loved, happy, and safe with a partner and children.

👉🏻 Do you want to know how to create a vision board? Read this blog article 'Create a New Vision for Your Life in Uncertain Times'.

Don't lose the joy of making something yourself

For me, this is ultimately what creativity comes down to.

The spark. The curiosity. The frustration. The unexpected idea. The mistake that turns into something better. The feeling of putting different things together and realizing that somehow, they belong together.

There is something deeply human about making something that did not exist before. That is why I continue to create.

My designs begin with my own paintings, illustrations, ideas and experiences. I turn them into pieces that can become part of everyday life, from clothing and accessories to home and gift items.

They are not about being perfect but about bringing a little more color, personality and intention into the world.

And in a world where so much can now be generated instantly, I think there is something meaningful about choosing to support the people who are still creating, writing, designing, painting, making and sharing their own perspective.

Support independent artists. Read local journalism. Buy from small businesses. Talk to people. Learn something difficult. Make something with your own hands.

Technology can help us move faster. But perhaps we do not always need to be faster. There is a beautiful song by Sarah Connor called Halt mich, which makes me think about this very question: In a world where everything seems to be getting faster, do we really want every part of our lives to keep speeding up, too? Maybe sometimes what we need is not another shortcut, but a moment to pause, to connect, to be present and simply let ourselves be held.

Because sometimes, the most valuable part is taking the time to be human.

Want to bring a little more human creativity into your everyday life?

Explore my collection of colorful, art-inspired designs created to bring joy, encouragement and a little more personality into the things you use and wear every day.

Discover Anke Wonder's creative collections!