Today, I read an article by Kristoffer Ealy arguing that the future belongs to people who work with AI, not people who let AI do the work for them. And I couldn’t help smiling, because that’s exactly how I’ve been operating for the past year.
Some folks treat AI like a vending machine: type in a prompt, take whatever drops out, and hope the professor doesn’t notice the metallic aftertaste. But that’s not collaboration. That’s outsourcing your thinking.
What I do is different. When I work with AI on a project — whether it’s the Buchanan audio, a comic splash panel for my Wordle-playing friends, or a blog post like this — I’m the one steering. I bring the ideas, the structure, the tone, the history, the humor, the moral clarity. The AI brings speed, stamina, and the ability to juggle a thousand threads at once. But the voice? The judgment? The point of view? That’s mine.
It’s the same distinction the article made: AI amplifies whatever the human brings into the room. If you bring nothing, it amplifies nothing. If you bring intention, it sharpens it.
That’s why collaboration works for me. I’m not handing over the job. I’m directing the production.
And the result — whether it’s an audio drama, a comic panel, or a blog article — actually sounds like me. Because I showed up.
That’s the part the “AI is taking over everything” crowd keeps missing. The danger isn’t that AI will replace human creativity. The danger is that people will stop showing up.
I don’t plan on being one of them.
Peace & Love, and all of the above,
Earl
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