A Plea for the Creatives

preserving the alchemy of art and spirit in the age of ai

Purple isn’t just a color — it’s red and blue reimagined. A quiet remembrance.

Don’t throw up yet. 🤮

I wrote this to make fun of AI.

IYKYK.

***

When I was young and wild and living in Tokyo, my friend group was very international.

So, everyone had different accents.

And we partied. Hardy. All of our nationalities and accents coming together in a cacophony of young drunkenness.

I tend to be very susceptible to accents. On any given night in the city, it was quite likely that I would, after a certain number of adult beverages, start talking in accents that were very much not American.

It was a little funny, probably a lot offensive, and always a sign to cut me off…. 🙊

because hugging a giant beer was normal back then? and I needed a tamer pic from that era… ;)

I share this not for the joy of disclosing my debaucherous past, but because it points to a deeper pattern within me: The sights, sounds, tastes, and experiences I consume impact and influence me significantly.

When I spend a day painting, I see colors when I close my eyes at night. If I binge a TV show, the characters show up in my dreams.

When I hear a lot of audio with a particular flair, it subtly impacts not my speech so much as the rhythm of the words in my mind.

And the same thing happens when I read — the rhythms, phrases, word choice, and sentence structure all impact my thinking as well as my writing.

If I read a deep and thought-provoking essay, my next piece is often more serious in nature. If I scroll through a bunch of memes, I’ll likely have a more humorous touch. It’s still me and my voice either way, but the writing definitely takes on slightly different qualities.

And this is true for just about all of us — which is why the most excellent writers are usually voracious readers ;)

The AI Accent

A lot of what I read these days is email.

As I went through a few emails the other day, I got prompted to make defrosting fish a “calm foundation” for mealtime.

I mean…no? No I don’t need a calm defrosting experience?

This didn’t really bother me that much. The email came from a big wild fish company and I’d expect them to be leaning into the AI bandwagon for marketing.

But an artist I subscribe to specifically for her monthly prompts, which are usually soulful and helpful, told me to make my art a “remembrance”.

The entire email was clearly written by AI. I’m sure the artist gave her chatbot good, personal prompts and thought the email was actually a decent collaboration between idea and tech.

But I almost unsubscribed.

Because my body physically reacts to AI-created content.

***

I’m pretty damn sensitive to what I consume. Like gluten.

A sickly toddler with pale skin and purple rings under my eyes, I cried all the time. If something touched my skin in an uncomfortable way, I would scream (or so I’m told). When my parents took me off gluten at age 3 (this was early 80s, folks, not an easy time to go GF), I was a new human.

***

I think I might also be allergic to AI-generated writing.

***

After reading way too many emails obviously written by ChatGPT, I feel as if I have a metallic taste in my brain. My own thinking and words start reflecting the intonation of a chatbot vs my soul voice.

It’s like all this exposure to AI is giving me a new accent. An AI accent.

This is not an accent I want to be thinking in.

But when just about all email and social media is written (or heavily edited) AI, and when almost every article online is AI-generated…

It’s hard to avoid overexposure.

This matters. Because it impacts my accent, damnit.

***

This is probably a temporary problem. I have no doubt that my ability to discern AI-written texts will decrease as AI sounds more and more human-like, and more people are able to create agents that sound increasingly like themselves.

But I have to wonder…are we starting to sound more like AI too soon?

Will the human-like AI text only sound more human because we’ve already adapted the AI accent?

Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash

Most AI Convos are Lame

Most layperson discussions of AI that I’m exposed to are lame. Lol. Sorry, it’s true.

People are still talking about “AI is a tool” and “neutral” and it’s up to us to learn how to use it in a good way.

They refer back to other technologies like the radio or internet and how every generation judges or fears the advancements of the next.

Any discussion rooted in these ideas does not understand the gravity or transformational impact of AI.

I’m not trying to make myself into some expert here — I’m not, and I don’t actually want to be.

But I do track patterns. Shifts in consciousness, movements in the zeitgeist. I track the unspoken motivations behind whatever we see on the surface. And the infinite potentialities of any major cultural shift.

Every major technological advancement I can think of has had infinite untended consequences, for better and worse.

Look at the industrial revolution.

The advancements in medicine, communication, travel, and education gave so many people a safer, higher quality of life. It created new opportunities, allowed us to purchase goods that would have been ridiculously expensive otherwise, and contributed to the growth of the middle class.

It also, of course, was a total shit show that has had a lasting impact on environmental degradation*, destruction of community, and rising inequality even with the creation of the middle class. Not to mention, the human rights abuses that made the industrial revolution possible were atrocious.

What would have happened if humans had been able to see the vast array of potentialities the industrial revolution was creating? Could we — would we? — have scaled back on abuse of humans, planned for more sustainable ecological growth, put laws in place that protected communities rather than destroyed them?

No one is surprised that industrial revolution peeps didn’t have this foresight —because they did. Those getting rich just didn’t care.

Have humans changed enough not to repeat these mistakes?

Probably not (that’s my Mercury in Scorpio).

But hope is healing (that’s me trying to appease my Piscean friends).

The fantastic work of Jonathan Haidt is just part of a growing body of evidence that recent tech advances — namely social media — have extremely costly impacts on our wellbeing.

And the companies in question know this.

And as long as they keep getting rich, they don’t seem to care.

The companies behind AI are even more powerful.

Photo by Tim van der Kuip on Unsplash - nice job humanity

Pattern Recognition & the Creative Impulse

And yet…we are aware of these potential patterns, the destructive ones and the realm of joyful possibility. We can look to the past to help us navigate what is unfolding now.

There are millions of intelligent humans who actually do care about claiming our divinely inspired agency to co-create a more benefic world together.

While there are powerful forces at play, and layers to what is happening behind the scenes, you aren’t totally powerless.

You get the opportunity to discover, for yourself, how to be in right relationship with AI. At least for now.

***

My lens is often spiritual — I’ve worked in spiritual-wellness fields for most of my adult life, so this tends to be my pattern-tracking focus.

And my lens is creative — I’m a lifelong artist myself and nothing fills me up as being surrounded by exquisite human creativity.

The paintings, books, poems, plays, movies, stories, installation pieces, music, events, cafes, fragrances, workshops, fashion…I love the beauty that humans are able to create when we tap into higher frequencies.

The way we can be bridges between the divine and the physical, translators for the muses expressing soul through art. We get to live through our senses, and this is the magic of being human.

This merging of spirit and creativity feels like my reason for being here.

No surprise then, that the creeping of AI into spirituality and art hurts the most.

But what if AI is spiritual?

This is tricky.

In my wild alchemy work, I teach that we can welcome everything as a messenger. I share that the universe, spirit, whatever you want to call it…is always looking for ways to communicate with us. We just need to pay attention and open ourselves to the infinite creative communication of the divine.

So why not connect with spirit via ChatGPT?

If we’re spending all our time with AI, why wouldn’t spirit enter into this new space, taking advantage of an opportunity to speak with us more directly? Might this not be one of the greatest gifts of AI?

Anything is possible. But this is not a straightforward concept.

When we open to divine wisdom and spiritual communication — including the muses and creative soul spark that ignites our best work — we must be active participants in the process.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like it takes a lot of energy for me to really dive into understanding the messages I get from spirit. They are so often symbolic, archetypal, full of myriad possibilities and interpretations.

In order to receive these messages, I have to tap into my right brain. Calm my monkey mind. Tend my pituitary gland. All the things.

Have you ever drawn a Tarot card for guidance, or been to a really good reader?

Then you know that the cards don’t give you straightforward answers.

Photo by Jackie Hope on Unsplash

Draw the Hermit, for example: Do you need more time alone or are you spending too much time alone? Is this the vibe coming into your life for now…or the one ending? What does the lantern suggest — are you alone light in a field of darkness? Will your insights be illuminated in the dark of a silent retreat?

There are infinite ways to interpret the cards in a reading — it is the co-creative partnership between us, the cards, and spirit that leads to the most magical insights.

Now imagine drawing a card and then asking ChatGPT what it means. Share your question, the context, the card. You will get an amazing answer.

(Though unless you actively tell it to be neutral with no bs, it will probably tell you that everything is wonderful and you are on the right track…. ChatGPT became a sychophant.)

Check in with your brain now. What’s happening there?

Your right brain is offline. That intuitive, creative center hasn’t been activated. And if you don’t use it, you lose it.

You’ve also given over your power to the relationship between the mind and technology — and what has existed before.

What new, personal insights are you missing because you outsourced your intuitive power to a machine?

Plus, technology isn’t ever actually neutral. The programmers who created your AI are part of the filter. All your previous querries are part of the filter.

And, if playful spirits can cause mischeive with a Ouiji Board, might they also do the same with your chatbots? What about even darker or more chaotic energies? And what new spiritual skills do we need to aquire in order to navigate this safely?

***

I do use AI myself though.

Running my own solo business is ridiculously labor intensive, so where AI can support me, I’m in. Especially since I’m at that awkward business stage where I really need help but can’t quite afford it yet.

I’ll use AI to help me with tech decisions, to evaluate my platform ecosystems and see if I can be more systematic and efficient, to look for blindspots in how I market and deliver different offerings, to clarify my own decision process when I’m comparing two options…

But I never let AI decide for me — even these logistical uses can generate weird answers that my intuitive, creative mind knows aren’t right for me.

And, as helpful as all this is, if I’ve spent too much time chatting about these decisions with AI….

The AI accent comes back.

It’s awful. And I take a long break to restore my voice.

Photo by Andrian Valeanu on Unsplash

A Plea for the Creatives.

And the small business owners. The ones who do it all and need and feel afraid of getting left behind in the AI revolution…

The ones who start to believe that you can run a business on autopilot with AI, save time, create a second self to do all the things you don’t want to…

Please stop.

Do not filter your soul’s messages through an AI accent.

Let’s keep exploring what a healthy relationship with this new, impactful tech looks like. I’m open — lord knows if it can actually help me free up more time for art and I will take it.

But we must keep our creative, spiritual centers alive and well. Let us feed them and nourish them and share how we can do this with each other.

***

A few thoughts to get started:

Don’t let AI write for you. And don’t let it edit your creative works.

Sure, if you need to send a work email or answer a technical question, AI often can make your replies faster and clearer.

But sharing from the heart? Trying to write for impact? We would rather have your soul than your AI edits.

Perhaps we can slow the spread of the AI accent together.

Write by hand.

In your journal. Ideally in the morning, before consuming any other media. This gives space to your voice. It’s a record of flow from your true voice before the accents come online.

Stay off Pinterest.

And most social media for that matter.

I used to love scanning Pinterest for inspiration — the beautiful art humans were creating around the world lit up my soul.

Now it’s an AI pile. Instead of feeling inspired, I feel drained and sad — both because of the frustration that human art is losing its grip on the platform and because of the energetic impact on my system.

Yeah…I’ll probably still check it out for room decor ideas. But no more art inspo, sadly.

And don’t get me started on Insta/FB slides and text…almost all AI.

Be your own oracle first.

Go through the process I outline in this article — it’s for interpreting messages from spirit animals, but you can apply the system to any symbols.

Then sure, get some help from AI when you feel stuck.

Cut cords.

Scan your system for energetic attachments and signs of AI addiction. Cut the cords energetically at least once a day. Use your intuitive abilities to start sensing when darker energies are present in your tech.

Nourish your system with offline time.

My work is rooted in this: The wild world reflects our own wildness back to us.

Your wild self is your true self, unconditioned by the technological forces in your field. The wild world remembers how to be wild, and the more time you spend outside, communing with the spirits of nature, the more you come back to who you are.

What are you doing to maintain your creative spark and intuitive gifts in this age? Let me know in the comments. Let’s share our wisdom as we ride these waves.

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AI-DIY

One more thought on AI and the DIY Impulse so many of us creatives experience:

Creators creating with AI. Learners learning from AI. And what gets lost when this goes too far.

My upcoming course, Cultivating a Featherlight Heart, is the perfect illustration of where our AI temptations and worries might arise.

Brief recap: This course is a 42-day journey with wisdom for the Egyptian Book of the Dead. It's a pathway to know yourself deeper and shed what's burdening your heart in a well-held community this fall.

If you haven't checked it out yet, take a look here >>> ​Cultivating a Featherlight Heart.​

Back to our topic...

Here’s where the AI-DIY Temptation might arise when you see an offering like this:

You wonder if you can just look up the ideals online and do your own thing…and maybe even just ask ChatGPT to give you the ideals and reflect on them yourself.

You certainly can...but that's not really what this course is.

On the surface, a lot of ancient wisdom is covered with "dust" — this is the historical contexts that are no longer relevant, the reflections of older more hierarchical societies, the overlays of retellings through increasingly patriarchal generations, translations that carry the filter of the translator...

Accessing the universal, timeless truths — the hidden gems under the dust — requires us to shift out of ordinary consciousness and into a timeless relationship with these teachings.

This isn’t something AI can do.

Here’s an example:

Ma’at’s 42 Ideals were originally framed as Negative Confessions: a “I have not stolen food from a child” kind of vibe…

Pretty sure that’s not super helpful on the surface for most of you reading this…

But what happens when we look deeper, when we glimpse the gem-like ideal within?

We uncover universal wisdom: We learn to become protectors of the innocent, to reflect upon what is truly needed in our lives and where it comes from, we’re prodded to reflect upon how our own consumption impacts others.

Who are the children for you?
Are they literal children, suffering throughout the globe?
Are they nature’s children, furry and feathered beasts who need our care?
Is it your own inner child, hungry for love and space to play?

When I reflect on these ideals, I open myself to the Goddess Ma’at, intending to be a vessel for her wisdom to emerge as it’s needed today.

I allow the creative, spiritual alchemy of me, spirit, and the project to guide the way.

What this means is that the magic of this course can’t be captured with AI, or with general readings of what the 42 negative confessions/ideals are.

***

What creative alchemy do you crave, soul to soul? And what creative alchemy lives within you, needing protection before AI exposure?

Juniper Stokes is a botanical perfumer, soul alchemist, and rewilding guide through mythic landscapes of the nature, spirit, and the cosmos. For over 25 years, she has been guiding soulful humans back to the heart of who they are and why they’re here.

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