Ah, the classic dilemma of "I like using AI because it gives me a good sounding board. But how do I ensure I don't lose my voice, perspective or even my natural style?

Good question, now let's get into the nitty-gritty but a few disclaimers first. This is for both art and writing, though it leans more for writing side.

DISCLAIMER:

- This post is only intended to express the use of AI in an ethical fashion, not replacement of human voice and perspective.

- Unless you're putting effort into your work, you're not going to feel the satisfaction of the result. AI as a sounding board and something you can take base inspiration from is amazing, just... don't go around claiming that the base is yours.

- AI is great for generating ideas or helping you get out of a creative rut, but it's still not you. It doesn't have your quirks, your experiences, or your unique lens. That's what makes your work authentic—and authenticity is what truly resonates with your audience.

- "If you're not bothered to write it, I cannot be bothered to read it." Shoutout to SSears90 for bringing in with that statement from twitter. But it's very much true. Sometimes I read news articles or blogs, they sound so.... bland, they make me want to quit immediately. Don't do that to your project. Don't do that to your work that's "babe" and dear to you. You catch my drift?

AI in writing:

Contrary to your favorite stance of "Just stop using AI in your work, you blockhead", let me give you a more nuanced perspective of the matter.

You have an idea but you aren't able to push it out and can't find the right words for the life of you. So frustrating right?

So, instead of waiting for ages after ages for the idea to evolve, you decide you want to do it now and you find yourself sitting (or standing) in front of your device, ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude open in front of you, innocently inviting you into it's lure of "What can I help you with today?" As if that alone wasn't enough to make you draw out swords and fight it for the life of you, you say, "Fine. What's it going to hurt?"

With the prompt entered, idea tossed on the keyboard and the enter button smashed harder than your head with a hammer, the journey begins.

Lo and behold, you have paragraphs after paragraphs of writing that looks so good, so formatted and polished, even Shakespeare might have to do a double take. Or in the case of a rogue AI, L'etranger might have to do a triple take because AI wrote words like "surprisingly slow to act", "hissed whispered" with a side of a ketchup drenched monocle and "crystal spatulas". Really, GPTs? This is what you have come to?

Anyways, anyways! You read it once, you read it twice, it looks perfect, it almost looks like what you'd write, minus the over-flowery words like "Spectre bones" for example. Spectre usually refers to a ghost or all things dead but you get me. This is what happens when you let an AI go rogue on your writing!

If you want more fun poked at AI-Human collaboration of a blender-mix, "The Case of Kite, Ghosts, and Friendship?" might just be up your valley. The idea was initially a collaboration between me and Bard (old Gemini. We miss you, Bard.) but eventually, I decided to pull it out of the dead, and am working on writing it word by word. There are still going to be awkward phrases and awkward words, but it's intentional.

One of the ways to make sure you understand what you read—and no, this isn't AI-sponsored, or even brand-sponsored—why do people always assume that? But, it's "Rewordify.com" This site helps you by breaking down the larger blocky words into simplified language with some words in the parenthesis () to help you know the meaning of the word.

Example: "As custard cascades and whipped cream swirls, Edward the Cafeteria Cadaver materializes with a theatrical groan. His ghostly form, usually draped in ketchup, is now adorned with a sticky bib of whipped cream and a ketchup-tinged monocle perched precariously on his spectral nose."

— Bard AI

As custard flows down and whipped cream circular flows, Edward the (self-serve restaurant) Dead body appears with a dramatic/theater-based (deep, long sound of suffering). His ghostly form, usually draped in ketchup, is now decorated with a sticky bib of whipped cream and a ketchup-colored eyeglasses for only one eye sat (like a bird) dangerously on his (related to ghosts or the colors of the rainbow) nose.

— Rewordify.com

As the custard flows down and whipped cream swirls in circles, Edward the cafeteria ghost appears with a dramatic flair. His ghostly form, usually draped in ketchup, is now decorated with a sticky bib of whipped cream and a ketchup-drenched monocle that rested dangerously on his translucent nose.

— My writing, inspired out of the two.

My version feels human, even when it's still slightly awkward but the idea is more clear. There might be other tools, of course, but this is just the best one I've found so far. You can share your creations (and experiments) in the comments. And if nothing works out, you can just throw a "one-punch two" square in the AI's face (or bits) and write it yourself.

In case all else fails and your hands are itching for that perfect description, go to "Descriptionari.com", it'll give you something that suits your tastebuds for sure. It's a great tool that I've been using it for a good long time, until of course, before AI came and swooped up everything so I don't trust that site as much anymore. But it really was cool while it was still written and managed by humans. 

There are a lot of resources for grammar, paraphrasing and simplifying your AI-base text and create something of your own from it's skeletal bones. It's one way to make sure you're still putting in effort and you're still learning in the process.

AI in art:

Now we've entered the precarious zone of AI art. I just talked about (or rather source-pasted) a post about AI art and what the enthusiasts say. It also involves a breakdown of why artists are upset. You wouldn't let a machine pass the captcha test, why are you letting them heckle your creativity?

Look, I get it, it's easy, you don't have to spend a dime on it and you definitely don't have to scratch your head for hours to get things done but, but BUT if you really wanted a community-driven art piece that you could still support and give back, why not do it the right way?

Examples of sites to take free illustrations/graphics/photos while supporting the community and supporting the artists that are behind it.

- Freepik

They have a strong regulation policy for both AI-art and non-AI art and if you tried to pass AI art for human... there's consequences for that, as well.

I haven't explored the further resources as thoroughly but it's still here.

- Pexels

- Pixabay

- Unsplash

You need a Unsplash+ subscription for illustrations unless you don't mind a "Unsplash" labelled illustration. But if you take that, don't try to roll the brush and be "This was created by me!" Absolutely not.

- Getty Images

Another paid subscription for a lot of images but it's worth it sometimes. You have the idea that you require, right on the paper.

- Vector.me 

- Kaboom Pics

- Stocksnap.io

- Vecteezy

- 1001 Free Downloads

To download PSDs, images, and vectors from these websites you don't have to spend a single dime. Most of these sites are just like Freepik, a community-driven website where all the users contribute and keep the free stuff flowing. You can get free images from here as per your requirements and create creative designs. 

However, for some, there are a few rules you need to abide by regarding using the content that you download. For example, you might have to credit the authors, that's it!

If you're looking for something very specific and niche, you could use Canva's illustrations or occasionally, if you're part of Playbook (Cloud Award winners, anyone?) they have packages or collaborations which are done by a real, human artist. Canva has become more sketchy with its "Make an Image" feature with even the paid elements being AI-generated and some of those examples made me mad but Playbook's artist collaboration uplifts both the human art and the licensed artist. The license is a creative commons accreditation but mostly? It's simple to use.

Concluding thoughts? Even when there's many websites for images, illustrations, stock photos or otherwise, try to contribute when you can to keep the free stuff going. Our world needs more humanity and art heroes. Not machine-generated cardboard pieces that taste blander than a Grahams crackers.