Using AI For the Tool That it Is: A Creator’s Guide to Staying Authentic and Keeping Your Voice

AI isn't replacing you. If you use it for the tool that it is, it will actually teach you why you're irreplaceable. As a creative, your authenticity is your greatest strength. Learn how to use AI to support you, while staying true to yourself.

Why AI Feels Scary—and Why It Doesn’t Have to Be

At this point in the game, you know about AI (Artificial Intelligence). You've maybe used ChatGPT to write an email or organize a grocery list. You've played around with the image generator and you've heard about someone somewhere seeing a video they thought was real, only to find out later it was all generated.

It's not new, but a lot of you are still scared by it. What does this mean for creators? What does it mean for copywriters and editors? What does it mean for my job? And how can I possibly compete for clients and visibility when everyone is using AI to create all their content?

I get it! The first time I heard about ChatGPT I was convinced I would never use it. It felt like the whole internet was being taken over by robots. But then I had a list of things that I needed sorted alphabetically and cleaned up of duplicates. I knew I could do it myself, but I'd heard from a friend that this was exactly the kind of thing they used AI for. So I tried it, and it worked; and it worked FAST! Something that would have taken me maybe 30 minutes to do, had just been done in 30 seconds. I had so much time to do other things! Okay, maybe not so much time, but more time than I would have if I'd done it myself!

Reframing the Way Creators Think About AI

Maybe you're thinking, that's all well and fine to use it for organizational stuff, but I'm a creator. My creativity is my brand, so how can I possibly use a robot for anything? And I get that too! The first time I asked ChatGPT to write an Instagram caption for me, and then it did, I panicked a little. Was I replaceable? Was my job becoming obsolete? NO! First off, I do way more than just write social media captions. Second, what it wrote didn't sound like me! It was clean and polished, sure, but it was flat. It gave me the bones, but I needed to add the body and the outfit. I needed to zhuzh it up. And that's when it clicked— maybe this isn’t competition. Maybe it’s collaboration.

To understand AI as the tool that it is, we have to reframe the way we're thinking about it. And maybe we need to answer this question first: "What does AI help with—and where does it fall short?"

AI is a Tool For You to Use

AI is, first and foremost, a tool. Think of it like the first mate on a ship, but you're the captain. You give the orders, you navigate and give directions on where to go, and the first mate repeats that information and helps make it happen. (Sorry boat people, if I've botched this metaphor a bit.) If you're allowing AI to guide you instead of the other way around, you've gone too far. Turn back!

If you need help organizing a list alphabetically, or gathering up data from your invoices so you can create a concise list of your services, use AI. If you need to write some email subject lines based on what you know about the best practices right now, but you're a little stuck, use AI! If you've got a million and one blog post ideas, but need help organizing them into a tackle-able (that's not a word) outline, use AI!

This tool is GREAT for helping you automate tasks (hello Zapier), cut out the fluff and duplicates, and streamline your writing processes. This gives you MORE TIME to focus on what only you can do, create! Kit hits the nail on the head when they say,

"So much of work as a creator is busy work. AI handles that, letting you focus on what only you can do: building trust, creating experiences worth sharing, making connections that matter."

Real-business examples of what AI can do

• brainstorm email subject lines and preview text based on the newsletter you've already written.

• take your "about me" page and reword it into a bio to fit the guidelines of a specific platform

• summarize a compilation of information into shortened bulleted lists

• give you SEO suggestions based on your article's first draft

Where AI falls short

• capturing your exact tone and voice

• understanding the nuances of emotional intelligence

• delivering jokes like you can

• empathizing with your clients

• catching grammar and context issues

So use AI as a tool for efficiency, NOT as a replacement for creativity.

Authenticity Still Win

If you've been following the AI story at all, you'll hear people talk about our need for authenticity. That it's more important than ever. But I don't think that's true. As humans, we have always been seeking authenticity. We can sniff out fakeness.

Think back to your days in school. You wanted friends you could trust; and you could just tell when something was off about someone. It's no different now, our awareness of it is just heightened because the fakeness is knee-deep.

I know I'm not the only one who can look at the drafts that are piling up on Instagram, or the notes on my phone of inspiration I've had for posts, that never got posted. Sure I could say it's because I don't have the time (which AI can give me back), but the truth is it's because I don't know where to start. I'm so afraid of it not turning out "right" that I don't even start. But guess what will never go viral... your drafts.

Why Your Audience Craves Realness, Not Perfection

I've said it before and I'll say it again, your audience isn't buying into perfection, they're buying into you. You'll build much better connections if you're posting content that shows realness, than you will if your feed looks flawless. So post the dang thing.

Take @kimstigrams for example. This reel shows how she's been the "most okayest content creator", but if you check her followers? She's got over 15k!! Just by being real and showing her imperfect content. AI can't generate the authentic you, so don't let one more cry for perfection drown out your real self. Put your humor, your mistakes, your you into everything you create, and people will take notice.

In a world riddled with AI, authenticity still wins because people crave what machines can't do... realness, emotion, and storytelling.

How to Make AI Work for You

So how do you take this tool and use it in a way that works for your creative business? That's a great question, I'd love to tell you.

1. Use AI to brainstorm, not finalize.

You're going to come up with the idea and then ask AI to give you some feedback. But you use YOUR sniffer to gauge what feels off, redirect where you need to. Remember you're the captain; you give the orders.

for example: If you're stuck on a new promotional idea, ask AI for three new ideas based on the sales you've run in the past. But then rework them in your tone and to align with your business. It's just helping you get unstuck so you can keep moving forward.

2. Run ideas through AI, then add your voice back in.

When you write with AI, whether it's a blog article or social media post, it shouldn't be writing the whole whatever for you. Readers can tell when something's been written by a robot. The tone will be off or the pacing will be weird or the emotional depth will be... lacking. You don't have to do it all alone, but you should be doing the heavy lifting.

For example: You can ask for help on your outline or give it your rough draft and have it offer suggestions for edits. Or you can give it your finished article and ask it to add in the SEO keywords and write a meta description. But keep your quirks and humor and style because those are your fingerprints of authenticity.

And while AI is good for catching some errors, it's not human, so it doesn't understand all of our nuances. When it comes down to it, a human professional proofreader is definitely the way to go.

3. Use AI for everyday tasks that will save you precious time.

For a non-work related example: I needed my husband to grab the groceries one week (and before you come at me or him for any sort of agenda, I LIKE grocery shopping and I enjoy getting to be the one to do it. I just didn't have time that week). So I typed into chatGPT my Aldi's layout and the grocery list and it wrote out a concise walk-through for my husband that I was then able to email him. I just went in and fixed anything it missed and boom DONE!

It sounds crazy and I could have done all of it by myself, but AI made it happen so much faster so I could focus on the real work I needed to get done that day.

Almost every example I've written about using AI in this article is from personal experience. I don't think that's cheating; I think that's using the tools provided to be a better OBM.

The Creator + AI Playbook

Wanting some help in figuring out how AI can help you, not replace you? Check out this simple checklist I created. In it, you'll learn how to ask ChatGPT to help you generate ideas, while still maintaining your voice. It's free, no strings (really).

Keep Your Edge Checklist.pdf

Download PDF • 314KB

Experiment with AI like you would with a new app or gadget. Play with it. Push its limits. But don’t hand it the wheel. AI is here to help you go faster, not take you somewhere you never wanted to go.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, AI isn’t here to replace us—it’s here to remind us what’s irreplaceable about us. The longer I’ve worked with AI, the more I’ve realized something—it’s not scary, it’s just a tool. A really smart, occasionally weird, sometimes too-formal tool. But when I use it my way, it saves me time, keeps me organized, and lets me spend more of my day doing what actually matters: connecting with people and helping them grow their businesses.

So, if you’re ready to stop feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list and start using tools (AI or otherwise) to make your business work for you, let’s talk. As an Online Business Manager, I help small business owners simplify their systems, organize their workflows, and get back to doing what they actually love. Get in touch to see how we can make that happen together.

Let's chat!