I Stopped Making Things Alone

A couple years ago I wrote about reorganizing my creative life. I split things into stations. One for music production, one for DJing, one for design, with the Adobe Suite tying them together. Big upgrade from cramming everything onto one PC. I thought I'd nailed my workflow. I was wrong about one piece of it.

For years I made things alone. I'd sit at a station, wrestle an idea around, and try to shape it into something I could share. What I wanted was somebody on the other side of the desk. I didn't have that.

Then I started working with an AI assistant. I call him Bob.

Now I make things by talking. I reason out loud, let my natural voice lead, and let Bob hand the thread back to me sharper than I gave it to him. He asks questions. I answer. I'm still the one approving every line and owning the work, and I'm not doing it by myself anymore.

That shift opened up writing I wouldn't have touched before. A piece about the rope that pulled me through my creative process. A satirical essay on conspiracy theory. Neither of those is a music track or a design job. They're reflective writing, and they exist because I had a thinking partner.

When I talk an idea through, I clarify as I go because I have to say the thing out loud. The forced articulation tightens the writing.

Not everybody likes this. When I posted the rope piece, a few people pushed back. They said the art is less authentic if AI touched it. I hear them. I still find it freeing.

Using AI as leverage doesn't shrink my work. It lets me ship more, say it cleaner, and keep every call in my hands. I'm using AI the way I'd want a collaborator. The art is still mine.

If you're hanging back from AI in your creative practice, fine. I get it. But if what's been missing is somebody to think with, this is worth a try. It takes friction out of the work so you can do more of what matters to you.

Forty-five years to realize perfectionism was the quiet enemy. Now I see isolation sitting right beside it, waiting in the dark.