If you’re a writer, musician, painter or other creative, you may be asking yourself, “How can I embrace AI?” You are likely having a harder time doing so than others around you.
In a recent article, I uncovered the biological reason for your AI resistance.
This time, I look at the psychology. I talk about what you should start doing and stop doing to make your journey easier.
Creatives, believe it or not, you are positioned to thrive in the age of AI!
No, it’s not your wild imagination
Yes, you have quite a lively imagination, but this is not that. Your fear is not exaggerated and you are not “catastrophizing.” AI is causing a seismic shift in jobs for creatives:
- A study by Goldman Sachs suggests that generative AI could automate 26% of work tasks in the arts and design sector.
- A survey by Canva revealed that 69% of 4,000 global marketing and creative leaders fear potential job displacement due to AI.
- In a more specific example, as of April 2024, 26% of illustrators and 36% of translators had already lost their jobs to AI.
Pursuing your craft may be something that has burned in your soul since childhood.
I know I first discovered my love of the written word when writing my third-grade report on a bird called the Hawaiian If you’re a writer, musician, painter or other creative, you may be asking yourself, “How can I embrace AI?” You are likely having a harder time doing so than others around you.
In a previous post, I uncovered the biological reason for your AI resistance. This time, I look at the psychology. I talk about what you should start doing and stop doing to make your journey easier.
Creatives, believe it or not, you are positioned to thrive in the age of AI!
Poof! The Disappearance of an Artist
Then, in November 2022, generative AI was introduced to the masses.
Either right away, or slowly over time, it’s safe to assume that this one event hurled your easel upside down.
Generative AI may now be:
- Destroying your job.
- Killing your business.
- Torturing your soul.
I get it. It happened to me too. (For more of my journey, check out my memoir, “Poof! The Disappearance of a Writer in the Age of AI.”)
If you haven’t dealt with your grief—if you’re trying to push it aside and soldier on—you’re likely to feel:
- Angry
- Unmotivated
- Disturbed
My experience is that trying to suppress these unpleasant feeling doesn’t work.
Only when I grieved the loss like I’d grieve a death was I able to arrive at this place of acceptance. Then, honestly, I experienced a rebirth of sorts.
How to grieve the loss and embrace AI
Talk about it, write about, express your sad and angry feelings in the way only you can do—through your art!
Don’t pretend it doesn’t bother you, this upheaval. Tell others what you’re going through. It’s for real. Lead the way for your non-creative peers, because in the coming year, they’re likely to go through it too.
In her “5 Stages of Grief,” famed Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross outlined the emotional journey many individuals experience when coping with loss. While you shouldn’t expect to move through these stages in a linear fashion, the 5 stages provide a framework for understanding the complexity of our feelings.
- Denial – The initial shock and disbelief following a loss. Individuals may struggle to accept reality, feeling numb or detached as a defense mechanism against overwhelming emotions.
- Anger – As reality sinks in, pain transforms into frustration and resentment. This anger may be directed at oneself, others, or even the deceased or a higher power. It serves as an emotional release and a way to regain a sense of control.
- Bargaining – A period of “what if” and “if only” thinking, where you might attempt to negotiate or make deals in hopes of reversing or mitigating the loss. This stage often involves guilt and self-reflection.
- Depression – Deep sorrow and sadness set in as the weight of the loss becomes undeniable. Feelings of emptiness, isolation, and despair are common, marking a turning point toward processing grief.
- Acceptance – The final stage is not about being “okay” with the loss but rather finding a way to integrate it into life. Acceptance allows for healing and moving forward while still honoring what was lost.
Understanding the five stages, and resolving to move through them rather than past them can help you truly get to a place of accepting the AI revolution transforming our world.
Embrace AI: Take The 10-Minute Challenge
I’ve issued a challenge to readers of this newsletter to spend ten minutes a day for a week playing with AI tools. Doing this can help reduce your resistance and move toward acceptance. (If you want to participate in the challenge, simply comment “I commit” and you’re in!)
What moved me from acceptance to true excitement about AI?
Credit goes to some truly inspirational mentors including Julia McCoy. Follow Julia on YouTube and you’ll feel awestruck by the possibility of these changes to improve our lives.
Also pivotal to my journey has been Heather Murray from AI For Non-Techies. Her boot camps and courses have been a total game changer. As I educated myself, I became more confident and could truly (not fakely) embrace AI.
Which of the 5 stages of grief are you in? Or did you bypass them all and go right to thriving?
Shana Burg is the Principal of Shana Burg Digital Media, a company that helps thought leaders harness AI to scale their thought leadership. She is also the author of Poof! The Disappearance of a Writer in the Age of AI. She writes this newsletter “AI for Creatives” to help like-minded souls navigate the AI revolution.