AI for Creative Professionals: AI Tools & Prompts for Designers, Writers & Marketers

How much AI should actually be part of a creative professional's work?
In Part 2 of my This or That episode, I'm answering the AI questions I didn't get to last time, from ChatGPT vs. Claude and AI-generated imagery vs. stock photography to automation, traditional creative skills, AI overwhelm, and whether I'd actually want AI to become more capable than it already is. Listen to Pt. 1 episode HERE.
But by the end, this episode turns into something bigger: what I actually want AI for Creative Professionals to be about.
I'm not anti-AI, but I'm also not someone who wants AI to become my entire creative identity. I'm figuring out how to adapt alongside everyone else, learning what makes our work better, what is mostly noise, and what parts of our craft are worth protecting.
If you're a designer, writer, marketer, editor, photographer, videographer, freelancer, or another creative professional who knows you can't completely ignore AI but doesn't want to become an “AI person,” this show is for you.
In this episode:
ChatGPT vs. Claude
AI for ideas vs. execution
AI imagery vs. stock photography
Why I deliberately ignore most new AI tools
The creative skills I think become more valuable as AI improves
What AI has made better and worse about my work
What would happen to my workflow if AI disappeared tomorrow
Why I'm increasingly skeptical of AI-everything
Where I think creative professionals fit into an AI-driven future
Who I actually want this podcast to be for
Next week: AI and client confidentiality, what creative professionals should think about before uploading client briefs, transcripts, strategies, files, and other confidential information into AI tools.
LET'S CONNECT! Instagram X Threads Substack

Which creative skills actually still sell now that everyone has access to AI? That's what I went looking for real data on this time. I dug up job posting numbers and freelance rate reports, and I also went back through my own 2018 portfolio, which is mostly dropshipping ad cuts made in Premiere and Filmora and Canva templates with a different product photo dropped in. It's cringe. it's not bad work, but it looks exactly like everyone else's portfolio from that era.
Inside the episode: an analysis of roughly 180 million job postings showing computer graphics and 3D roles down 33% while creative director postings stayed basically flat — same industry, completely different graph. Why London illustration agencies are signing woodblock printmakers and linocut artists right now. What happened when businesses fired their copywriters for ChatGPT in 2024 and quietly hired them back in 2025 at higher rates. And the same execution-versus-judgment split showing up, discipline by discipline, across design, writing, video, and marketing.
Then I walk through the actual audit I ran on my own portfolio this week, sorting a year of client work into two piles, and being honest about which pile most of it landed in.
RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED
→ Central Illustration Agency — London illustration agency now representing traditional, hands-on craft (woodblock printmaking) alongside its usual roster → IllustrationX — international illustration and animation agency, mentioned alongside CIA for signing a linocut artist
→ Bloomberry (Henley Wing Chiu) — "I analyzed 180M jobs to see what jobs AI is actually replacing today," the source behind the job-posting split→ Upwork In-Demand Skills 2026 — source of the Brand Strategy (+26%) demand figure → Upwork Future Workforce Index 2026 — source of the "34% more per hour" AI-freelancer earnings figure
→ Rob Palmer — direct-response copywriter referenced for the "fired for AI in 2024, rehired at higher rates in 2025" story 
SUBSCRIBE
If this one hit close to home, hit follow on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, new episodes land every week, and this thread on career adaptation isn't done yet.
And if you want the longer written breakdown of the numbers from this episode, that'll be up on the newsletter/blog once it's live.
CHAPTERS
00:00 The cringey 2018 dropshipping ad and Canva portfolio04:08 Intro: what this episode is about06:07 The split: 180 million job postings, two different graphs08:21 Why London illustration agencies are signing woodblock printmakers09:42 The four-discipline breakdown: design, writing, video, marketing11:05 The complication: the broken ladder for junior creatives13:01 Is "taste" really a permanent moat?13:46 The copywriter who got fired for AI, then rehired at higher rates14:56 The portfolio audit: sorting a year of work into two piles17:07 Homework for you
LET'S CONNECT! Instagram X Threads Substack

AI search is changing how clients find creative professionals, freelancers, designers, writers, podcast producers, photographers, and other independent creatives online. In this episode, I’m looking at how ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and other AI search tools are changing online discovery, what Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) actually means, and what you can do to improve your chances of appearing when a potential client asks AI to recommend someone with your skills. I also dig into why traditional SEO still matters, how AI decides who and what to cite, and why consistent positioning across the web is becoming increasingly important.
I went pretty deep into the research for this one because there are a lot of sweeping claims about AI replacing Google, and the actual picture is more complicated. Google still dominates search, while AI referral traffic is relatively small, but it’s growing very quickly. I also found some interesting evidence that people arriving through AI recommendations may be much more qualified than traditional search visitors. And one of the biggest surprises for me was LinkedIn: individual creators and their content are showing up in AI-generated answers far more often than I expected.
Then I get into what you can actually do about it. I explain why specific positioning tends to work better than vague marketing language, why you should describe what you do consistently across your website, LinkedIn, podcast bio, directories, and other profiles, and why third-party mentions are becoming so valuable. If you publish podcasts or videos, I also explain why transcripts matter for AI discovery. And I’ll give you a simple experiment you can run today: ask ChatGPT or Perplexity the exact question your ideal client would ask when looking for someone like you and see whether you exist in the answer at all.
RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED
→ Semrush research on AI referral traffic and AI citations
→ Pew Research on Google AI Overviews and search behavior
→ BrightLocal research on AI-assisted local business discovery
→ Seer Interactive research on AI-referred traffic and conversions
→ Ahrefs research on brand mentions and AI visibility
→ KDD 2024 research on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Can AI find you?02:56 Google still dominates, but AI search is growing03:59 How quickly ChatGPT referral traffic is increasing05:26 How AI Overviews are changing clicks07:06 Creative professionals already getting clients through ChatGPT08:45 Behance, Dribbble, LinkedIn & Upwork09:47 Why LinkedIn matters for AI discovery11:10 Why AI-referred visitors may convert better12:52 What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?14:41 How AI builds a picture of who you are15:45 Reddit, LinkedIn & AI citations17:23 The importance of third-party mentions18:16 Audit your AI visibility18:37 Write a specific positioning sentence19:28 Make your audio and video content readable by AI19:54 Build third-party mentions20:44 What all of this means for creative professionals
SUBSCRIBE
Subscribe to AI for Creative Professionals for new episodes about AI tools, workflows, creative careers, client work, and what all of these changes actually mean for people who make things for a living.
LET'S CONNECT! Instagram X Threads Substack

Why does having AI handle more of your work leave you feeling more anxious, not less? That's the real question behind this episode on AI burnout and AI anxiety for creative professionals: designers, writers, marketers, anyone whose day is work plus side projects plus a constant queue of content. I break down exactly what the stacking looked like for me: client work, my own side projects, YouTube, newsletters, and Netflix with my partner, all with zero gap in between and why the stacking itself, not any one piece of it, was the actual problem.
So last month I started sitting on my patio most nights around 10pm, thirty minutes, no phone, iced decaf or a zero sugar soda, notebook and pen mostly untouched, my cats usually trying to get in on it too. I talk through how bad I was at just sitting there the first few nights, the voice that kept telling me I should be working instead, and a 2025 Scientific Reports study on why letting your mind wander actually helps creative thinking plus the specific catch on when it works and when it doesn't.
This one's a direct follow-up to the concert episode last week, same underlying idea, opposite setup,
and it connects straight back to my freelance pricing math episode too, on deciding whether to productize, upskill, or step back from production work. If you've been feeling that low hum of overstimulation and couldn't point to why, this is for you.
RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED
→ Mind wandering during creative incubation predicts increases in creative performance in a writing task — McDaniel, Habibi & Kaplan, Scientific Reports (July 2025), USC Brain and Creativity Institute 
→ Previous episode: the Godsmack concert / collective effervescence episode
→ The overcommitting pattern this episode's guilt voice comes from (episode)
→ Content Overload Is Real — But Attention Spans Aren't Actually Shrinking (episode)
SUBSCRIBE
If this one landed, hit follow on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so next week's episode shows up automatically.And if you want the written version of this one plus more episodes like it, the newsletter signup's will be linked soon.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 The small thing that changed everything01:13 The scene: patio, 10pm, iced decaf, notebook, thirty minutes02:46 Why "doing nothing" used to feel like wasted time05:15 What the ritual actually looks like, phone included07:36 Why it started: work, side projects, content, and Netflix stacked with no gaps09:40 How AI and algorithms engineer away the gaps between things10:07 The guilt voice: "I'll just finish this, then I'll chill"11:29 The research rabbit hole: default mode network and the Scientific Reports study12:40 The thread connecting this episode to the concert episode13:25 Bringing it back to your career, side hustles, and the pricing math episode15:51 The practical takeaway, the patio callback, and next week's tease
LET'S CONNECT! Instagram X Threads Substack

There are experiences AI still can't replace - live music, theater, live sports, and handmade craft all resist AI replication for real psychological reasons, not just sentiment. This episode breaks down exactly why, using concepts like collective effervescence and the effort heuristic to explain what AI can generate versus what it can never actually recreate.
I went to a Godsmack concert last Sunday and for two hours I did not pull my phone out once and somewhere around the third song I felt like I was sixteen again, standing in a crowd at my first real show. I looked around and everyone near me had the exact same look on their face. Turns out there's a reason this hits different and it's not just me getting sentimental in my thirties... there's a real sociological term for it (collective effervescence, if you want to sound smart at a dinner party), plus this thing called the effort heuristic that explains why we value stuff more when we know a human actually sweated over it.
If you're a creative freelancer and your whole thing is "I deliver a fast, polished asset," you're fighting AI on AI's home turf, and that's a losing fight. There's a better move, and I get specific about what it actually looks like. Also: homework. You're picking one hobby and banning AI from it. No arguing.
RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED
→ Collective effervescence (Émile Durkheim) — the sociological concept behind why crowds synchronize emotionally at live events → Effort heuristic — the cognitive bias where perceived effort increases perceived value
SUBSCRIBE
If you're finding this useful, hit subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don't miss next week's episode.
The written version of this one will be up on the blog soon — link coming, along with the newsletter signup.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00: the Godsmack concert and feeling 16 again02:28: Intro: what this show's about04:09: Why this hits different: collective effervescence, the effort heuristic, and provenance07:34: It's not just music: theater, sports, and handmade goods10:15: What this means for your creative business14:35: Callback + what's coming next week
LET'S CONNECT! Instagram X Threads Substack

If you're a creative professional - a designer, writer, marketer, videographer, illustrator - using AI tools to work faster and still not seeing your rates move, this episode is probably about you. I'm following up on something I said back in June and didn't fully explain: that I'm thinking about upskilling into something closer to where client revenue actually lives. A month later, I still don't have a clean answer. But I'm thinking through it out loud, because that's what this show does.
I get into why creative professionals who use AI tools to speed up production work tend to hit a pricing ceiling that strategists don't, and it's not a mindset thing, it's structural. I talk about what direct response taught me about proximity to measurable outcomes, what AI actually amplifies in creative work (and what it can't touch), and the question I'm asking myself right now that feels different from "I should probably upskill."
This one doesn't wrap up neatly. If you're a freelance creative doing good work, using the tools, still feeling stuck, it might be worth 17 minutes of your time.
RESOURCES & LINKS MENTIONED
→ AI for Freelancers: The Math Nobody Warned You About episode
SUBSCRIBE
New episodes every week - follow on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don't miss the follow-up when I actually have something figured out.
The written version of this episode, plus the newsletter, will be added once it's live.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Following up on June's 2am episode02:26 Career arc: 2018 to now04:19 The thing I didn't clock for a long time05:21 The webinar that reframed everything07:45 Being three steps from the outcome09:23 Where AI actually fits in and where it doesn't12:07 The real risk for creative producers right now13:04 What I'm doing differently with existing clients14:38 The bigger move I'm still figuring out15:26 The question that hits different16:18 The thing to sit with before you close this app
 
LET'S CONNECT! Instagram X Threads Substack