You’ve got a vision—a masterpiece in your head, just waiting to come to life.

But every time you try to put it on paper, something feels off. Your skills don’t quite match the picture in your mind.

The ideas are there, but the execution? Not so much.

Maybe you’re short on time, or maybe traditional art just feels like it’s gatekeeping creativity with all its complexity.

It’s slow, it’s demanding, and let’s be honest—it can feel like only the “chosen few” ever truly master it.

Sound familiar?

What if there was a way to bring your ideas to life without needing years of practice or perfecting fine motor skills?

That’s where technology—especially AI—steps in.

This aligns with the extended mind theory in philosophy, which argues that our minds extend beyond our brains and include the tools we use.

When you use AI to create art, it’s not just a shortcut—it’s an extension of your mind, allowing you to offload technical challenges and focus on bringing your ideas to life.

AI becomes part of your cognitive process, turning abstract thoughts into tangible creations.

No longer reserved for professional artists, AI art tools are tearing down the barriers that keep everyday people from creating.

Whether you’ve ever felt stuck, frustrated, or left out of the artistic process, AI is unlocking a new era of creativity where anyone can make art, no matter their skill level, time constraints, or physical abilities.

This isn’t some far-off future. It’s happening right now.

And if we don’t jump on board? We’re at risk of missing out on one of the most exciting creative revolutions of our time.

It’s time to stop clinging to outdated methods and start embracing the tools that can finally unleash your creativity.

The Limitations of Traditional Art

We’ve all been there—staring at a blank canvas, knowing what we want to create, but without the skills or time to make it happen.

Traditional art demands technical skill, patience, and hours (if not years) of practice.

Want to paint something beautiful? Great!

Get ready to dedicate years to perfecting your craft.

And that’s assuming you have the physical ability, motor skills, and resources to even begin.

For everyday people—not just professional artists—these limitations feel like an insurmountable wall.

We all have the desire to create, to express ourselves visually, but the gap between what’s in our heads and what we can actually make? It’s enormous.

But what about people with disabilities, like aphantasia, who can’t visualize images in their heads at all? Or people with motor impairments who can’t physically create the art they see in their minds?

So what happens?

You try. You fail. You get frustrated. And eventually? You give up. Your ideas stay locked inside because the traditional methods of artistic expression just weren’t built for you.

It’s not just a matter of skill—it’s about access. Traditional art often feels like a closed door, particularly for people who face additional barriers.

This is where pragmatism steps in, especially philosopher John Dewey’s belief that the true value of art lies not in mastering technical skill but in the experience and emotional connection it fosters.

Dewey argued that art’s importance comes from the way it allows people to express and communicate feelings, creating an emotional link between the creator and the audience—or even just between the artist and themselves.

With AI, those technical barriers start to fade away.

The complexity of mastering the craft becomes secondary, as AI enables you to focus on what matters most: the emotion, the message, and the personal expression that comes through in your art.

It’s about the connection, not the technique.

A World Without Creative Expression is a World in Decline

Imagine a world where people can’t express themselves.

All those feelings—joy, confusion, pain, and frustration—bottled up with no release.

That’s the future we’re risking if we keep clinging to the past.

When you can’t create, you lose a critical outlet for processing emotions.

Creativity isn’t just about making something visually appealing—it’s about bringing the unconscious to the surface, translating your thoughts, feelings, and experiences into something tangible.

Without an outlet for expression, those feelings don’t just disappear—they fester.

They stay bottled up, quietly influencing your actions, decisions, and relationships.

Eventually, they build up to the point where they explode in ways you can’t control.

This is where Aristotle’s concept of catharsis comes into play. 

Catharsis refers to the emotional release and processing that art provides, helping us purge those bottled-up emotions. Traditionally, creating a piece of art for catharsis might take days, weeks, or even months.

But with AI, the process speeds up dramatically. You can create and release your emotions almost immediately, before they have a chance to fester and grow.

The quick turnaround enables faster emotional processing, letting you transform complex feelings into something tangible in real time—offering you that cathartic release almost on demand.

And honestly, take a look around.

People are more disconnected from their emotions, from themselves, and from each other than ever before.

Creativity—our ability to process and express what’s going on inside us—is slipping away.

And with it, we’re losing a core part of what makes us human.

But here’s the thing: art doesn’t have to be inaccessible anymore. 

Technology, especially AI, gives us a way to reconnect, to find that catharsis, and to release emotions in a way that’s faster and more accessible to everyone.

How AI is Breaking Down Barriers to Creativity

Tools like MidJourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion are revolutionizing creativity by making it possible for anyone—regardless of skill level, time constraints, or physical limitations—to create something beautiful, something meaningful.

Suddenly, the ability to express yourself visually isn’t just for professionals with years of training.

It’s for everyone. This is the true democratization of creativity, allowing more voices to be heard and more perspectives to be shared.

This shift isn’t just a technological advancement; it’s deeply connected to process philosophy, particularly Alfred North Whitehead’s view that creativity is the driving force behind all change.

Whitehead argued that reality is constantly in motion, shaped by the creative process.

In this context, AI doesn’t just enhance creativity—it accelerates it, allowing more people to engage in artistic evolution without needing years of training.

It’s not about replacing traditional art forms; it’s about opening new doors, evolving the process itself, and inviting more people to participate in the creative flow.

AI amplifies the power of creativity, letting anyone contribute to this ongoing process of change.

And this isn’t just a win for art—it’s a win for humanity.

Creativity is how we process our emotions, explore new ideas, and connect with others.

If we don’t embrace this revolution, and instead continue to gatekeep creativity by pretending it’s only for those who’ve mastered traditional skills, we’re not just holding back cultural progress—we’re holding back personal growth.

We’re robbing millions of people of the chance to explore, express, and connect through their unique voices.

The consequences won’t just be cultural stagnation—they’ll be emotional stagnation.

When people lack the tools to express themselves, their emotions stay bottled up, leading to disconnection from others and from their own inner worlds.

We risk living in a world where creativity is stifled, where people feel emotionally trapped and isolated.

Not to mention the violence that results from an inability to cope.

But what if we flipped the script?

How Technology Unlocks Artistic Expression for Everyone

Let me tell you about the first time I discovered AI-generated art.

I have aphantasia, which means I can’t see images (or anything else) in my mind.

If I close my eyes, I see nothing but darkness. Ever.

Creating traditional art? It’s like trying to paint with your eyes closed.

I knew what I wanted to express, but it was impossible to bring it to life.

My mind’s eye? Blank.

My hands? Untrained.

And the frustration of not being able to get what's inside your head out onto the canvas—it’s enough to make you give up altogether.

Then I found MidJourney.

Suddenly, it didn’t matter that I couldn’t draw or visualize.

I could just describe what I wanted, and it appeared.

In this sense, AI became an extension of my mind and emotions, just as extended mind theory suggests.

It allowed me to bypass my limitations, offloading the technical aspects of art-making and letting me focus entirely on the feelings and ideas I wanted to express. AI wasn’t just a tool—it was part of my creative process, helping me translate the abstract into the tangible without the usual roadblocks.

It was like finding the key to a locked door that had been keeping me from expressing myself for years.

I started by just playing around—typing in words, letting the AI spit out images.

But then, something magical happened: I realized I was creating art.

Me.

I went from someone who thought I’d never be able to visually express anything to creating intricate, beautiful pieces that truly reflected my emotions.

AI unlocked something I thought was impossible for me: creative expression. And because I could generate these pieces so quickly, it sped up my emotional processing too.

When someone upset me, I no longer felt the need to confront them. Instead, I channeled my frustrations into creating art. The speed at which I could generate these pieces allowed me to process my feelings almost in real time.

I didn’t dwell or hold onto my anger—I was able to move on much faster, without ruminating or holding grudges. Creating art this way became my way of closing the loop, leaving me feeling calmer and more in control.

And the best part?

It’s not just for people like me with aphantasia or other challenges.

It’s for everyone.

How AI is Revolutionizing Art for Everyone

So, how is technology doing this for everyone else?

Platforms like MidJourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion are breaking down the barriers that used to keep people out of the art world.

These tools don’t just make art faster or more efficient—they make it accessible.

No longer do you need years of practice, expensive supplies, or an innate ability to draw or paint.

With a few simple prompts, anyone can create something visually stunning, meaningful, and deeply personal.

Imagine this:

You’ve got an idea for a room in your head—it’s the setting of a scene you’ve been writing, or maybe it’s your dream home. You can almost sense the textures, the colors, the mood of the space.

But you’re no interior designer. You don’t know how to draw it, and explaining it to someone else? It’s frustrating.

Now, with AI, you can type in those vibes you’re going for and bam—there it is. Your vision, laid out in pixels. You can see it now. You can tweak it, add to it, make it yours.

And it doesn’t stop there.

People are using AI to create art for their homes, illustrations for their writing (like this very newsletter!), or even just as a way to unwind and express feelings they didn’t know how to articulate.

It’s like having the power to take all those tangled thoughts and emotions inside you and manifest them into something real, something you can see and share with the world.

The creative floodgates are wide open.

Why We Can’t Afford to Miss This Opportunity

If you’re not using AI to unlock your creativity, you’re not just missing out on a tool.

You’re missing out on yourself.

AI isn’t here to replace your creativity—it’s here to amplify it.

Here’s how you can start using these tools to unleash your inner artist:

1. Start with Your Imagination. Do a brain dump. What are you feeling? What do you want to express? It doesn’t have to be complicated. Even if you can’t “see” it in your head, start with a vibe, a mood, or even a color palette.

2. Use Simple Prompts. You don’t need fancy art terms or specific techniques. Just describe what you feel. Want to express your love for the ocean? Type in something like “calm beach at sunset, warm hues, soft waves, serene.” The AI will take care of the rest.

   1. If you need help prompting, paste your brain dump into chatGPT and ask it for help making a prompt that will bring those feelings to life.

3. Explore Different Styles. MidJourney, for example, offers endless styles to explore. Play around with them until you find one that resonates with your personal aesthetic. This is how you start developing your unique style, even if you’re not holding a brush.

4. Think of AI as a Collaboration. You’re not just hitting a button and letting the machine do everything. You’re directing it, refining it, making changes until it aligns with what you’re trying to say. It’s a conversation between you and the tech, not a one-sided exchange.

But Isn’t AI Art Just Stealing from REAL Artists?

One of the loudest objections you’ll hear is that AI art is “stealing” from real artists.

And yeah, the way some AI models have been trained using existing artwork without the original artist’s permission is definitely problematic.

Let’s not sugarcoat it—that part of the process fucking sucks.

It’s not right for someone to profit off an artist’s work, style, or ideas without their consent.

If you’re selling AI-generated art based on another artist’s style, you’re crossing an ethical line.

But let’s draw a line between making money and making art.

If you’re using AI tools to express yourself, to capture the feelings and ideas that live inside you, and you’re not trying to profit from it, that’s a whole different story.

Art is one of the most human forms of expression, and just because a tool was trained in a shady way doesn’t mean people should be barred from using it to express themselves.

Should the system be improved? Absolutely.

But shutting down the entire thing? That’s not the answer.

AI as a Tool for Personal Expression

Here’s where I stand: if you’re using AI for personal expression, that’s something that should never be taken away.

You’re not stealing anyone’s livelihood by typing a prompt into MidJourney to create a piece that represents how you feel or what you want to explore creatively.

The art you’re creating isn’t about copying someone else—it’s about giving you, someone who may never have had the means or ability before, a way to visually express yourself. This concept aligns with posthumanist philosophy, which suggests that technology doesn’t diminish human potential but instead enhances it.

Thinkers like Katherine Hayles argue that human-machine collaboration allows us to overcome limitations and transcend traditional boundaries.

By integrating AI into the creative process, we expand what humans are capable of—blurring the lines between artist and tool, allowing us to create in ways that were previously impossible.

Rather than replacing artists, AI helps unlock forms of expression that were once out of reach for many.

And let’s be honest—if we start gatekeeping tools for self-expression, where does it end?

Should we have rejected photography because it “stole” the visual world from painters?

Or banned digital art because it gave more people access to professional-level creation?

No. We evolve, we learn, and we adapt. AI is no different.

If you’re using AI for personal growth, self-expression, or simply to explore your creativity, it’s not a shortcut or something sinister—it’s empowering.

It’s a way for people, who may have been shut out of the traditional art world, to finally have a voice.

Common Objections to AI Art—and Why They Don’t Hold Up

Whenever something new challenges the status quo, especially in art, there’s going to be resistance.

People don’t like change. And when it comes to AI-generated art, there are definitely some loud objections out there.

Let’s break down a few of the big ones—and why they don’t hold up as well as you might think.

Objection #1: “AI is just pushing a button. It’s not real art.”

This one comes up a lot. There’s this belief that if a human isn’t physically holding a brush or a pen, then what’s created isn’t “real” art. The idea that AI makes creating too easy, and therefore somehow devalues the process or the product, has become a common talking point.

But let me ask you this: Is art really defined by how difficult it is to create?

Think about photography. Before cameras, portraits required weeks of sitting and a highly trained painter. Then photography came along, and suddenly people could “push a button” and get an image. Does that make photography less of an art form? Of course not.

The value of art isn’t in the struggle. It’s in the expression, the emotion, and the story it tells. Just because AI can speed up the process or simplify it for people who don’t have traditional art skills doesn’t mean the final product lacks value.

AI art is still a reflection of the user’s vision, their choices, and their emotions. It’s not just “pushing a button.” It’s guiding, refining, and bringing to life something deeply personal that couldn’t exist otherwise. The human is still very much involved in the process—AI is just another tool, like a camera or a paintbrush.

Objection #2: “AI will replace human artists.”

Let’s address the fear head-on: AI is not here to replace human artists. It’s not coming for jobs in the way some people think. In fact, AI can’t exist in a creative vacuum. It needs human input. Someone still has to imagine the vision, craft the prompts, refine the output, and guide the AI toward the final result.

Think about it like this: did digital art replace traditional painting? Did photography replace sculpture? No. It’s not about one medium replacing another—it’s about expanding the possibilities of what we can create.

What AI does is lower the barriers to entry for people who haven’t had access to traditional art skills, time, or tools. For professional artists, it opens up entirely new avenues for collaboration, speed, and experimentation.

Rather than replacing artists, AI gives them more tools to push the boundaries of their work. Imagine being able to concept, iterate, and experiment faster than ever before. Instead of spending days or weeks on a single idea, AI can help artists explore dozens of variations in hours—allowing them to focus more on the creative aspects than the tedious parts of the process.

Objection #3: “AI art isn’t unique. It’s just regurgitating existing images.”

This concern has some validity, especially when it comes to how certain AI models are trained on large datasets of existing art. There’s been controversy around models scraping the web and using existing artworks as training data without the original artists’ consent.

And yes, that’s a real problem that needs addressing.

But let’s look deeper. While it’s true that AI has been trained on existing images, that doesn’t mean it’s simply copying or stealing. AI isn’t pulling up an exact replica of someone else’s work when you generate art—it’s synthesizing countless data points to create something new based on your prompts.

The uniqueness comes from you. The way you combine ideas, the words you choose to describe your vision, and the emotions you want to express—all of that shapes the final product. Sure, the AI draws from a huge well of past work, but so do human artists. Every artist is influenced by those who came before them—whether they realize it or not.

The key is how you use the tool. If you’re guiding the AI with your vision and ideas, the final piece will be just as unique and personal as if you had made it from scratch by hand.

AI doesn’t strip away the personal touch—it enhances it.

Objection #4: “Using AI to create art is lazy.”

This one hits close to home for a lot of people, because we’ve been conditioned to think that hard work and creativity are inseparable. But does something have to be hard to be valuable? Is using technology to make the creative process easier really lazy?

Think about the tools we already accept as part of the creative process. Nobody accuses a musician of being lazy for using software to mix and master their songs. Nobody calls a writer lazy for using a word processor instead of handwriting everything. Technology has always been there to help artists create more efficiently, and AI is no different.

If anything, AI removes the tedious barriers that keep people from expressing themselves. It’s not lazy—it’s smart. It’s using the tools at our disposal to focus on what really matters: the ideas, the feelings, the creativity.

And for those who don’t have the time or physical ability to spend years mastering traditional art techniques? AI is a gift, not a shortcut. It’s a way for people who were previously shut out of the art world to finally have a seat at the table.

Objection #5: “AI-generated art doesn’t have soul.”

This is one of the most emotional objections people have. They argue that because AI is a machine, it can’t create something with “soul”—something that captures the deep human experience.

But here’s the thing: AI doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s not creating art on its own, detached from humanity.

You are still the source of that soul. You’re the one feeding the AI prompts, guiding its direction, and infusing the process with your own emotions, experiences, and perspective.

In a way, AI allows people to explore their inner world more deeply. Maybe you can’t physically sketch the sorrow or joy you’re feeling—but with the right prompts, AI can help you visualize those emotions in a way that resonates.

It’s a collaborative process, and the “soul” of the art comes from the human side of that collaboration.

Just because you’re using a new tool doesn’t mean your art is any less personal or meaningful.

Art is about connection. And if AI helps you connect more deeply with your own emotions and ideas, how can that be seen as soulless?

The Future of Art: Tradition and Technology Working Together

So where do we go from here?

The truth is, art is always evolving.

From the moment humans painted on cave walls to the introduction of photography, digital tools, and now AI, the methods we use to create have never been static.

AI doesn’t devalue traditional art—it complements it.

It opens up new possibilities, giving more people the chance to create. It’s not a replacement for creativity; it’s a catalyst.

And just like the artists who embraced new mediums in the past, those who lean into AI now will be on the cutting edge of the next great artistic revolution.

The real challenge isn’t whether AI art is “real” art. The question is, are we ready to embrace what’s possible?

Because if we do, we’ll be unlocking an entirely new level of creativity—one that’s accessible to everyone, not just the lucky few with time, resources, or the privilege to hone traditional skills.

The future of art is a collaboration between tradition and technology. And the canvas is bigger than ever.

So what are you waiting for? Whether it’s with a brush, a camera, or a prompt generator, it’s time to start creating.

Stay Curious,

Addie LaMarr