Human Creativity vs AI: Why I Still Choose People Over Prompts

There’s a lot of talk right now about AI changing the creative industry. Some of it feels exciting, some of it feels overwhelming - and a lot of it assumes we all need to completely overhaul the way we work.

But here’s the thing: AI might be brilliant at speeding things up, generating options, or checking for gaps - but it can’t feel. It can’t interpret lived experience, intuition, or nuance. And sure - it can be trained to sound like you. To mimic tone, style, even phrasing. But it’s not really your voice. It’s not lived experience. It takes a human mind to shape the nuance, to know what matters, to add the edge that actually makes it land.

As a newly freelance creative, I use tools like AI to support my process - not replace it. A second brain, not a substitute.

But even with all the excitement, there are still whispers of risk - about AI making jobs less secure, about creativity being outsourced, about freelancing being a gamble.

So why, in the midst of all that, did I choose to do it anyway?

Firstly, because it was the right time for me. But also because I believe people still want to work with people.

Yes, AI is fast. Yes, it can be trained to sound like you, think like you, even anticipate what your audience might want to hear. But it’s still artificial. It doesn’t understand the why behind your words. It doesn’t carry the lived weight of your story. It can mimic voice - but not vision.

And if we’re not careful, it will start to make us lazy.

Because it’s so fast. So tidy. So eerily good at pretending it’s finished. Just because something sounds polished doesn’t mean it’s right - or even good. And when something looks finished, it’s tempting to stop asking questions.

But the magic often starts with the questions.

AI will give you what you asked for. But it won’t wonder if what you really need is something else. It’ll give you “A” when you ask for “A” - it won’t consider that B, C or D might be better.

Some of the best moments of human creativity don’t come from prompts - they come from messy, passionate conversations. This is where the gap between AI and human creativity becomes most visible. It simply can't replace being sat in a room or on a Teams call with people you genuinely vibe with. Bouncing ideas. Layering perspectives. Bringing real lives, real biases, real emotions into the mix.

That’s what keeps the creative thirst alive - the dopamine hit of genuine collaboration. The spark that flies when ideas grow and flourish through shared thinking. You’re energised, not overwhelmed.

And just as importantly, human interaction offers gentle challenge - the kind that nudges you to think deeper, consider more, and create with inclusivity and impact in mind.

That’s something AI can’t recreate. It can offer a version. But it can’t truly co-create.

It doesn’t bring lived experience into the room. It doesn’t draw from the hundreds of subtle human interactions that shape how we listen, how we sense what's needed, how we know when something’s not quite right - even when the client can’t articulate it.

It can’t feel the shift in a conversation. It doesn’t notice when someone lights up with an idea - or goes quiet because doubt just crept in. It doesn’t know when to pause. When to push. When to hold space.

It can’t build relationships. It doesn’t care.

It might simulate care - reflect it back in clever, convincing ways. But it doesn’t feel it. It’s not emotionally invested in your growth, your fears, your mission.

It can’t show up with lived empathy.

No instincts. No reflection. No reimagining. It can remix a thousand voices - but it will never know what it means to truly have one.

If we lean too hard into AI, there’s a real risk we’ll forget how to listen. How to wonder. How to change our minds. We’ll settle for what sounds like thought leadership - but is really just... Artificial Leadership.

Because if everybody starts sounding the same - we’ll stop wanting to listen.

We’ll get tired of reading the same stylised copy from brand after brand, polished to the point of detachment. And what’s lost in that? Authenticity. Friction. Intrigue. The things that move us.

AI can support the process - absolutely. It can help you brainstorm. Suggest sharper phrasing. Fill in gaps. Even generate visuals that look polished.

Technically, it can do a lot. Including creating things that look and sound impressive. But the real question is: can it do it well enough - for what purpose, and for whom?

It can mimic emotion - but it doesn’t mean it. And when something doesn’t mean it, people can feel that.

That’s the difference.

To me, freelancing isn’t just about deliverables anymore. It’s about creating space. Staying curious. Holding vision. And that kind of work - the kind that transforms, not just performs - is still, and will always be, deeply human. It's not just what we create, it's how we create it too.

I’m not scared of AI. I’m scared of what over-reliance on it might take from us - not just in terms of jobs, but in terms of connection, emotional nuance, the richness of human interaction.

So yes, I use AI - I even used it to help build this piece. But the ideas, the pushback, the development, the questioning, and the values? That’s all me.

Human.

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