{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-blog-post-js","path":"/AI-made-me-productive-but-creativity-sucks/","result":{"data":{"site":{"siteMetadata":{"title":"Catwomaniya"}},"mdx":{"id":"064f8e99-98fe-5a18-919b-ccf0a77672c3","excerpt":"A few months ago, I came across a video of a DJ talking about making music with AI. He described spending hours generating tracks, listening through them…","body":"var _excluded = [\"components\"];\nfunction _extends() { return _extends = Object.assign ? Object.assign.bind() : function (n) { for (var e = 1; e < arguments.length; e++) { var t = arguments[e]; for (var r in t) ({}).hasOwnProperty.call(t, r) && (n[r] = t[r]); } return n; }, _extends.apply(null, arguments); }\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(e, t) { if (null == e) return {}; var o, r, i = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(e, t); if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var n = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(e); for (r = 0; r < n.length; r++) o = n[r], -1 === t.indexOf(o) && {}.propertyIsEnumerable.call(e, o) && (i[o] = e[o]); } return i; }\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(r, e) { if (null == r) return {}; var t = {}; for (var n in r) if ({}.hasOwnProperty.call(r, n)) { if (-1 !== e.indexOf(n)) continue; t[n] = r[n]; } return t; }\n/* @jsx mdx */\n\nvar _frontmatter = {\n  \"title\": \"AI Made Me More Productive. So Why Does Creativity Feel Different?\",\n  \"date\": \"2026-06-04\",\n  \"description\": \"A personal reflection on AI, writing, design, and the parts of thinking we shouldn't outsource\"\n};\nvar layoutProps = {\n  _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n  var components = _ref.components,\n    props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, _excluded);\n  return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n    components: components,\n    mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n  }), mdx(\"p\", null, \"A few months ago, I came across a video of a DJ talking about making music with AI. He described spending hours generating tracks, listening through them, throwing away 99% of them and occasionally finding one that felt magical.\\nThe strange part was that he wasn\\u2019t describing the process with excitement. He was describing it like a routine. And I kinda related with what he said.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I don\\u2019t make music. I write. I design. I spend an unhealthy amount of time staring at Figma files and half-finished documents while convincing myself that this my mobile app had the prettiest UI.\\nBut I\\u2019ve felt the exact same thing.\\nGenerate twenty homepage directions.\\nThirty copy variations.\\nTen article structures.\\nA hundred content ideas.\\nSpend hours reviewing them.\\nEnd the day with more options and less conviction.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The output is objectively better than what I could have produced alone in the same amount of time. The process somehow feels worse.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"That\\u2019s the part I\\u2019ve been struggling to articulate.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I love AI tools. I use them every day. For writing, design, research, random questions that would have been Google searches a few years ago. I\\u2019m probably closer to the \\u201CAI maximalist\\u201D camp than the \\u201CAI is ruining society\\u201D camp.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, mdx(\"span\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"className\": \"gatsby-resp-image-wrapper\",\n    \"style\": {\n      \"position\": \"relative\",\n      \"display\": \"block\",\n      \"marginLeft\": \"auto\",\n      \"marginRight\": \"auto\",\n      \"maxWidth\": \"590px\"\n    }\n  }, \"\\n      \", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"span\",\n    \"className\": \"gatsby-resp-image-link\",\n    \"href\": \"/static/d9b94dcc2fb3510224513f6dc7260c15/2bef9/aiprod.png\",\n    \"style\": {\n      \"display\": \"block\"\n    },\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener\"\n  }, \"\\n    \", mdx(\"span\", {\n    parentName: \"a\",\n    \"className\": \"gatsby-resp-image-background-image\",\n    \"style\": {\n      \"paddingBottom\": \"150%\",\n      \"position\": \"relative\",\n      \"bottom\": \"0\",\n      \"left\": \"0\",\n      \"backgroundImage\": \"url('data:image/png;base64,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')\",\n      \"backgroundSize\": \"cover\",\n      \"display\": \"block\"\n    }\n  }), \"\\n  \", mdx(\"img\", {\n    parentName: \"a\",\n    \"className\": \"gatsby-resp-image-image\",\n    \"alt\": \"five layers of ai dependency\",\n    \"title\": \"five layers of ai dependency\",\n    \"src\": \"/static/d9b94dcc2fb3510224513f6dc7260c15/fcda8/aiprod.png\",\n    \"srcSet\": [\"/static/d9b94dcc2fb3510224513f6dc7260c15/12f09/aiprod.png 148w\", \"/static/d9b94dcc2fb3510224513f6dc7260c15/e4a3f/aiprod.png 295w\", \"/static/d9b94dcc2fb3510224513f6dc7260c15/fcda8/aiprod.png 590w\", \"/static/d9b94dcc2fb3510224513f6dc7260c15/efc66/aiprod.png 885w\", \"/static/d9b94dcc2fb3510224513f6dc7260c15/2bef9/aiprod.png 1024w\"],\n    \"sizes\": \"(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px\",\n    \"style\": {\n      \"width\": \"100%\",\n      \"height\": \"100%\",\n      \"margin\": \"0\",\n      \"verticalAlign\": \"middle\",\n      \"position\": \"absolute\",\n      \"top\": \"0\",\n      \"left\": \"0\"\n    },\n    \"loading\": \"lazy\"\n  }), \"\\n  \"), \"\\n    \")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"At various points I\\u2019ve probably flirted with what I jokingly call \\u201CAI dependency.\\u201D\\nThe kind where your first instinct isn\\u2019t to think, search, sketch, write or experiment.\\nIt\\u2019s to ask a model.\\nI\\u2019ve even written before about what I think are the five layers of AI usage. The first layer is obvious productivity gains. The last layer is when the model quietly becomes your default interface to the world.\\nI\\u2019ve poked that line more times than I\\u2019d like to admit.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Which is why this observation annoys me.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Because I don\\u2019t think the problem is that AI makes us less productive.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"If anything, it often makes us more productive.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I think the problem is that it changes the nature of the work.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"A lot of creative work used to begin with boredom. Or confusion. Or staring at a blank page longer than you\\u2019d like.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The blank page sucks, by the way. I feel like people (including me) get weirdly nostalgic about it now. Most of my relationship with blank pages has historically been panic.\\nBut occasionally, somewhere inside that panic, an idea would show up.\\nNot always a great idea. Mostly horrible. Then another. Then another. And eventually something would click.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"AI mostly removes that phase.  Which is the entire sales pitch.\\nYou don\\u2019t need to stare at a blank page anymore because the page is instantly full.\\nThe first draft appears immediately.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The problem is that generating ideas and evaluating ideas are completely different activities.\\nInstead of figuring out what I think, I\\u2019m reviewing ten versions of what a model thinks I might want to think.\\nInstead of discovering a direction, I\\u2019m choosing between directions. I know it\\u2019s confusing but trust me it\\u2019s not the same.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"One thing I\\u2019ve always been fascinated by is what I jokingly call sourcing entropy.\\nMost of the genuinely good ideas I\\u2019ve had in my life came from one of two places.\\nEither I spent enough time alone with a problem that something unexpected surfaced.\\nOr I stole three unrelated ideas from smart people and smashed them together until they became something new.\\nNeither process is efficient.\\nBoth involve wandering around mentally for far longer than any productivity guru would recommend.\\nBut I think that\\u2019s part of why they work.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Original ideas rarely arrive on schedule. They tend to appear while you\\u2019re getting coffee, taking a shower or pretending to work while actually doing something completely different.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"AI is almost the opposite. It is incredibly good at collapsing possibility space.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Give it a vague thought and it immediately starts adding structure. Sometimes that\\u2019s exactly what I want.\\nSometimes it\\u2019s the difference between shipping something and getting stuck. But I\\u2019ve also noticed that if I involve it too early, I often lose the part where I would have discovered something myself.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The final result might be better. The journey there feels less memorable. Less personal. Less mine.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"What happens when we get so good at outsourcing the difficult parts of thinking that we accidentally outsource some of the enjoyable parts too?\\nEvery new technology moves us one layer higher up the abstraction stack.\\nThat\\u2019s usually a good thing. Nobody is arguing we should go back to writing assembly code. But every abstraction also creates distance.\\nAnd I suspect one of the biggest differences between people over the next decade won\\u2019t be who uses AI and who doesn\\u2019t.\\nAlmost everyone will.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The difference will be what they choose to outsource.\\nI\\u2019m still trying to figure out where that line is for myself.\\nI just know that every now and then I catch myself generating ten versions of something when what I actually needed was to sit with the blank page for ten more minutes.\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","frontmatter":{"title":"AI Made Me More Productive. So Why Does Creativity Feel Different?","date":"Jun 04, 2026","description":"A personal reflection on AI, writing, design, and the parts of thinking we shouldn't outsource"}}},"pageContext":{"slug":"/AI-made-me-productive-but-creativity-sucks/","previous":{"fields":{"collection":"blog","slug":"/claude-goal-usage/"},"frontmatter":{"title":"I used /goal in both Claude Code and Codex. Few honest thoughts."}},"next":null}},"staticQueryHashes":["2841359383"]}