The Balance Between Inspiration and Acceleration

When I first started experimenting with AI, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. The skeptics in me, and maybe in you, worried that leaning too much on algorithms would dull the edges of creativity, that it might replace the spark of inspiration with something mechanical and uninspired. After all, what’s the value of producing something quickly if it feels hollow?

But then I found myself staring at a blank page, a common ritual of creative work. The ideas were there, somewhere beneath the surface, but they weren’t ready to come out. That’s when I started using AI not as a replacement for my creativity, but as a kind of launch pad. It gave me rough sketches, half-formed sentences, or a few new perspectives I hadn’t considered. Suddenly, I wasn’t staring into the void anymore. I was responding, reacting, reshaping. It felt less like cheating and more like a collaborative and creative process, where the AI was tossing me raw clay and I was sculpting it into something meaningful.

The same thing happened when I discovered tools like vibe coding. Prototyping an idea that might have taken me hours of trial and error suddenly became a much more fluid, expressive process. I could sketch out a concept, see it live, and then refine it. It wasn’t about cutting corners. It was about moving quickly enough to keep up with the energy of inspiration. The tool didn’t replace the creative process; it actually protected it. It gave me more freedom to try, fail, and try again without burning through all my time or patience.

That’s the lesson I’ve taken from this technology: AI is not here to replace organic thinking. It can’t replicate the strange, wandering path of human imagination. What it can do is clear the debris in the road, those repetitive tasks, those slow bottlenecks, and give you more time and space to explore the parts of your work that truly matter.

In today’s world, speed matters. Deadlines are tight, competition is fierce, and the demand for output never really slows down. But inspiration doesn’t work on a clock. It arrives when it wants to. The right use of AI bridges that gap. It lets us keep pace with the demands of modern work while still honoring the slow, irreplaceable rhythm of human creativity.

So for those still skeptical, I’d say this: don’t think of AI as an intruder. Think of it as an accelerant. It won’t take away the soul of what you create. It just helps you get to the place where that soul can shine through a little faster.

About the Author

Jeremiah Barkman, Product Manager Personify Inc
_{Jeremiah began his journey to the Metaverse in the early 80’s with his first computer, the Commodore VIC-20. Spending his youth in Redwood City California, in the heart of Silicone Valley, he was astounded by the emergence of the home computer. Jeremiah created his first AI algorithm at the age of twelve as a thought experiment after watching the sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Later as a teenager he hosted a BBS on his Commodore 128D, helping to bring the early home computer telecommunications community together. Jeremiah is dedicated to the goal bringing technology and people together in sustainable and healthy ways. He now directs a team of talented programmers, envisioning new ways to expand the human potential through Intelligence Augmentation.}