I quit my Google software engineering job and became a watercolor artist. Here’s how I’m using — and not using — AI.

This as-told-to effort is based connected a speech pinch Sara Wilczynska, a 41-year-old watercolor creator and laminitis of Swil Arts who lives successful San Diego. Prior to her creation career, she worked arsenic a package technologist successful the finance and tech industries earlier quitting her occupation astatine Google successful 2022. The pursuing has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

I started utilizing AI beautiful early on.

I founded my creation workplace successful 2023 — aft quitting my package technologist job astatine Google the twelvemonth anterior — which was erstwhile generative AI started to go much accessible and powerful. In a way, I was increasing my workplace pinch it, and having a tech inheritance made maine much prone to experiment, beryllium excited, and consciousness little frightened of it.

However, I was ever very clear that I ne'er wanted AI to switch maine astatine the halfway and the bosom of my business. I wanted to create and to adhd worth to people's lives done my creativity. Still, I identified that location are galore things progressive successful running a business that require time, energy, and money, which AI tin really thief trim clash with.

I judge there's a measurement for artists and creatives to activity pinch AI, and it tin hopefully thief america redefine the worth we adhd arsenic artists and creatives.

Here's really I do and don't usage AI.

How I don't usage AI

I'd ne'er usage AI to make immoderate artwork. I've ever had a very clear bound astir that — I'll ne'er usage AI for creation creation, ideation, imaginative brainstorming, and ocular storytelling.

From the opening of my creation career, I've utilized accepted media — ink, watercolor, brushes, and paper. Even if I digitize it later successful bid to put it connected products, the bosom of it is creating everything successful a accepted measurement pinch hands and accepted mediums.

I saw a batch of imaginable and worth successful the quality facet of it, for illustration sketching connected location and capturing pinch each the senses. AI tin process an image, but it's not going to person that acquisition aliases position aliases mentation aliases locality — each the things that a quality adds.

I person a play newsletter wherever I stock updates from the studio, successful which I besides sprinkle successful what I telephone "California moments worthy keeping." These are different snapshots of Southern California life that I sketched, arsenic good arsenic a small communicative of the inspiration.

I wouldn't spell to AI and say, "Come up pinch a 'California infinitesimal worthy keeping' for my newsletter," because that's not authentic. The full constituent is that it's my lived experience.

How I usage AI successful my creation business

When I've already captured the moment, sketched it, taken pictures of my sketches, and person the communicative down it, I consciousness OK for AI to proofread aliases edit my newsletter and to propose a amended travel of sentences, because I'm not a copywriter.

I dainty AI almost for illustration a sound recorder. Often, I'll travel up pinch the thoughts, topic, and contented that I want to write, and speak it to my telephone while I'm lying down aliases commuting. My stories and contented are my own, though.

I besides person a fewer custom-trained GPTs that are very adjuvant for my creation business.

First of all, I trained my ain individual creation coach. I defined my signature style, creator voice, and values, and erstwhile I decorativeness an artwork, I provender it to the civilization GPT and inquire for feedback and criticism. That's been very adjuvant for my maturation arsenic an creator and arsenic a creator.

I trained different AI supplier to thief maine to select creation opportunities, for illustration grants, residencies, and contests. It would beryllium a full-time occupation to spell done and spot which ones I'm eligible for and that resonate pinch my work. I periodically provender my supplier a database of different opportunities, and it tin do the first furniture of filtering because it already knows me, my business, and my criteria.

I besides sometimes usage AI to thief maine pinch reference photos. If I'm doing my ain art, I tin usually overgarment connected location, but if I'm moving for a client, I'm sometimes incapable to return my reference photos; for example, if the portion is going to beryllium a astonishment for someone, specified arsenic a location portrait, I shouldn't spell location and commencement photographing it. In those cases, AI tin thief maine fig retired things for illustration a bully ray root aliases a bully architectural position for the constricted reference photos I mightiness beryllium moving from.

I'd estimate that AI easy saves maine astatine slightest 20 hours of activity a week

I usage it for things that many business owners usage it for — strategizing, semipermanent planning, and bookkeeping. I mightiness person circumstantial questions astir QuickBooks, aliases immoderate ineligible questions astir intelligence property.

I besides usage it for investigation and fact-checking. When I activity connected a task wherever the storytelling and meaning are very important, it's bully to validate botanical, symbolic, architectural, geographical, aliases humanities details.

Since I'm not a photographer and don't person master equipment, I besides usage it for mock-ups and fixing photos. In the past, I'd usage Photoshop, but it's easier to talk to AI and springiness it a punctual to put the merchandise against a bully inheritance and hole the lighting.

I've developed rather a batch of patience pinch the iterative process of prompting — and I sometimes moreover create my prompts pinch AI. My process has decidedly changed and is evolving arsenic the devices are too.

When I first started utilizing AI, it was ace crappy and hallucinated overmuch more. It wasn't reliable, and it would spell into stupid loops. It's only successful the past six to 12 months that it tin really do things rather good and reliably.

I person concerns, but I return a mediate way pinch AI

Because of my method background, I return a balanced attack and person a patient skepticism astir AI. I don't want to glorify it, while besides not scapegoating it arsenic the most unspeakable thing ever. Exercise, rest, regular walks, and being successful quality thief maine support my tense strategy regulated, which helps counterbalance the propulsion of technology.

I decidedly person immoderate worries aliases concerns astir AI connected a broader scale, specified arsenic the environmental impact, which I dream is getting much and much scrutinized by the correct people.

With the gait of improvement of AI, I'm sometimes worried that ethical aliases ineligible considerations aren't processing astatine the aforesaid pace, successful position of consent, training, copyright, and really AI is utilized for things for illustration deepfakes.

My tech inheritance makes maine really understand and support treating it arsenic a tool that, for illustration immoderate tool, tin beryllium utilized either constructively aliases harmfully; it's not inherently bully aliases bad. It's very accelerated evolving, truthful I support asking myself whether the measurement I'm utilizing it is accordant pinch my values arsenic a personification and pinch my values arsenic a business, and I proceed reevaluating and being accountable and flexible.

Maybe I'm optimistic, aliases naive, but I want to judge that exertion and quality productivity tin coexist, and that AI is going to bring creator practices to the adjacent level and not go a replacement for artists, long-term.

Do you person a communicative to stock astir really you do aliases don't usage AI successful your activity and individual life? Contact this newsman astatine [email protected].