Episode 63 - Don't Compete With AI. Become More Human
Don’t Compete With AI. Become More Human.
Welcome back to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast.
I hope you listened to last week’s episode.
If you didn’t, I want you to go back and listen to Part One first, because today we’re going deeper into that conversation.
And I want to begin with one question:
What can you give people that AI cannot?
Think about that for a second.
What can you give people that artificial intelligence simply cannot?
Because I believe one of the biggest mistakes creatives can make right now is trying to compete with AI at the things AI does extremely well.
Speed.
Volume.
Variation.
Automation.
You are not going to win that battle.
So instead, let’s think differently.
What becomes more valuable precisely because technology is becoming more powerful?
Human connection.
Trust.
Taste.
Experience.
Meaning.
Your story.
And this is a big one:
Human presence.
Those are enormous opportunities.
So instead of asking:
“How can I beat AI?”
Ask yourself:
How can AI make me better at the work only I can do?
That is a completely different mindset.
Yes, use technology where it helps you.
Many of us are using AI every day.
It can be an incredible assistant.
But remember:
It is an artificial assistant.
Use it to brainstorm.
Organize.
Research.
Build presentations.
Develop concepts.
Solve problems.
Handle repetitive tasks.
Learn faster.
But then take some of the time that technology saves you and invest it back into becoming a more interesting human being.
Spend more time with people.
Listen more carefully.
Study your craft.
Create personal work.
And when you create personal work, don’t ask whether anybody cares about it.
Don’t ask whether they like it.
Make it because you need to make it.
It’s personal.
Go somewhere unfamiliar.
Have new experiences.
Learn about the art you love.
Learn about music.
Learn about history.
Study the people who came before you.
Ask yourself:
How did my craft begin?
What was its original purpose?
And what is its purpose now?
And here’s another big one:
Learn about people who are completely different from you.
People from different cultures.
Different beliefs.
Different ideas.
Different places.
Because every experience you have gives you something new to bring back into your work.
And there is one more thing I want you to do.
Stop thinking of yourself simply as someone who makes something.
A photographer.
A painter.
A designer.
A writer.
A filmmaker.
A voiceover artist.
Instead, start thinking about the value your work creates for another human being.
That changes everything.
If you are a portrait photographer, maybe your real work isn’t taking pictures.
Maybe your work is helping somebody see themselves differently.
If you are a wedding photographer, maybe your work isn’t simply documenting a wedding.
Maybe you are preserving one of the few moments in a lifetime when several generations of a family will ever be together in the same place under joyful circumstances.
If you are an artist, maybe you are giving physical form to something another person feels but cannot explain.
If you are a designer, maybe you are helping someone communicate an idea clearly enough that another human being finally understands it.
These are human outcomes.
And the clearer you become about the transformation you provide, the harder it becomes to reduce your value to a button.
We are now in the second week of October 2026.
The final quarter of this year has begun.
So I want to challenge you.
For the next 90 days, stop spending your energy asking whether AI is going to take something away from you.
Ask what you can build.
Ask what you can learn.
Ask who you can help.
Ask what part of yourself you have been afraid to put into your work.
And then get to work.
Make the project you’ve been thinking about.
Reach out to the person you’ve been afraid to contact.
Learn the new technology instead of hiding from it.
But at the same time, go deeper into the parts of your work technology cannot replace.
Your relationships.
Your reputation.
Your experience.
Your taste.
Your story.
Your ability to make another person feel something.
Because the future of creativity is not simply human versus machine.
The movies may have trained us to think that way.
But I don’t believe that is the opportunity in front of us.
The future will be shaped by people who know how to use powerful technology while remaining deeply human.
And maybe that is the opportunity hiding inside all this uncertainty.
When everybody can create more, meaning matters more.
When everybody can generate something beautiful, point of view matters more.
When everything becomes faster, trust matters more.
And when technology becomes everywhere, being genuinely human may become one of the most valuable things you have.
So don’t disappear.
Don’t shrink.
Don’t convince yourself that your best days are behind you.
They’re not.
Adapt.
Learn.
Experiment.
But keep your humanity at the center of everything you create.
Because maybe we have spent too many years believing the technology was the most important part.
It never was.
People don’t need more content.
They need more perspective.
They need more experience.
They need the way you see.
And somewhere out there, someone may be waiting for something that only you can create.
I’m Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast.
Keep learning.
Keep evolving.
Keep creating.
And most importantly, keep believing that your creativity still has a place in the future.
I look forward to seeing you right back here next week.
Until then, always dream big.
Bye for now.
