The media industry is alive with debate about how the role of AI will impact our creativity, both in terms of process and output, but so far the focus has been heavily on the perceived negatives. Will it take our jobs in creativity, will it enable widespread cheating in education, will it eventually take over the world so we’re all living in some dystopian hell controlled by bots?

However, rather than the binary fear that it will render human input redundant, let’s focus for a moment on the positives. What if AI could enhance our lives? What if we could retain sufficient control that we could make it work for us, handing over selective responsibilities that would help us work smarter. What if we could offload those bits of our jobs that are tedious or repetitive and for which human input wouldn’t be missed? And if I’m feeling mercenary, how about those jobs that don’t earn us anything. Could storyboard ideas created by generative AI provide a springboard for deeper idea inception?

The idea needn’t be perfect, it doesn’t have to be the finished product, but it could spark a thought which could set you off on a road you’d never had taken without a prompt. AI is your brainstorm buddy, your word association pal, your saviour when you’re staring at a blank piece of paper, uninspired and at a creative dead end.

And then there’s the accomplishment of concepts previously written off as impossible, such as evolving cultural ideas without the input of the person originally responsible. Tom Hanks prompted this idea when he spoke back in May about the idea of AI enabling a version of him to appear in films long after his death - a moral debate that has since become headline news with the latest Hollywood strike. Hanks believes people won’t care that they are watching only a (very realistic) likeness of him and - with studies showing Gen Z care less about whether something is ‘real’ or not, focusing instead on the interaction being meaningful - I’m inclined to agree.

I recently used ChatGPT to write a sequel to a series of woodland-themed stories my six year old daughter loves. The existing 30 stories were written in 2018 and as we approached the last book in the series I was painfully aware a difficult conversation needed to be had. That is, until I considered creating new material myself. After offering only a few topline facts about the setting, the plotline and characters - with a little extra focus on those she particularly enjoyed - I was provided with a very passable version of the author’s original work that, I’m pleased and relieved to report, passed muster at bedtime.

I’m not suggesting there are too few books or films in the world that we need to create fresh content artificially, but given it costs nothing - literally and figuratively - why not?

AI allows us to imagine what exists outside the framing of something real. Instead of turning away from AI we should embrace it and allow it to help us extend our limitations, remove the boundaries we put around concepts and ideas, and instead adopt a mindset where we want to go in and play and solve some problems. Because that’s where the really interesting creative things start to happen.

I wonder if the fear around AI lies in large part in a lack of understanding of how to work with it, but also in the insecurity that despite years of honing our craft - our professional skills - something could come along seemingly overnight and do the job just as well - perhaps even better - than me.

But I would urge people to explore the possibilities. That fear of being outsmarted runs the other way too: I know nothing about photography but by learning a few technical terms and appropriate prompts I was able to generate spectacular photographs just using AI.

A crucial part of working together with AI lies in speaking its language and getting to grips with how it operates. And that needn’t be a barrier. In all of our lifetimes each of us has got to grips with technology we couldn’t have fathomed existing 30 years ago.

Think about this new creative vocabulary that doesn't care for status or wealth or how well trained you are. Anyone can use it and it's entirely free. You simply have to adopt a mindset where you want to go in and play, solve some problems and see what comes out.

AI is democratising creativity and that should be celebrated, not feared.