The Center Layer - Creative Authority in the Age of AI
The Tender Truth About Creative Authority in the AI Age
As we get closer to the center of an onion, the layers become more tender. What softens as you approach your authentic core?
I'm getting better at AI tools every day. Recently, I've been exploring prompts for songwriting, video production, and collaborating with LLMs like Claude, ChatGPT, and others. But here's the tender paradox: I'm mastering creative acceleration while simultaneously questioning if creative excellence still matters.
A partner recently told me something that hit like a cold truth: "AI has changed the field so much. Before, investors would fund good ideas. Now the bar is working on products with 100k users. Execution has to be so high - coding, marketing, sales - while competing with everyone else who's figured out these tools."
I've spent years perfecting the art of making ideas look investable - thousands of decks for blockchain startups, logos, and presentations that raised millions. But the game fundamentally shifted over time, maybe even overnight.
The Creative Support Trap
For years, I've been "the designer" in our Web3 company. I create the visual strategy that makes complex blockchain concepts digestible, but I'm not on the strategic calls with clients. I understand the vision and contribute my piece, but I know my role in the company.
And that's where something tender revealed itself: I'm not afraid of AI replacing me. I'm afraid of remaining in creative support instead of stepping into creative authority.
The tender truth? Even with all these AI superpowers, I'm still conducting other people's orchestras instead of composing my own symphony.
The Coming Creative Inflection Point
Here's what keeps me up at night: Will our creativity become reduced to the power of our prompts? Will those prompts get swallowed up and sold, turning us into creative parrots?
Like Chris Rock jokes - we'll all be in a circle room, told to "piss in the corner," just jumping around in circles looking for corners that no longer exist.
Jordan Peterson talks about how we're all reading the same post-modernism books, parroting the same studies. What happens when AI democratizes creativity but homogenizes vision? When everyone has access to the same tools but loses their authentic voice?
But here's the tender realization that emerged: Maybe this saturation will create a premium for authentic, hand-crafted creativity. Like those social media detox camps where kids rediscover playing outside once you take their phones away.
Two Paths Forward
The tender core truth I've discovered, approaching authenticity is this: You have two choices in the AI creative landscape.
Path One: Learn the tools. Don't settle for "draw me a cat." Be expressive, explore creative boundaries, and question the prompting. Experiment with different AI chats and platforms beyond just ChatGPT or Midjourney. Adapt and find your core voice within this AI acceleration, or someone with less skill will take your place.
Path Two: Step away entirely. Paint on an easel, drink coffee, watch sunrises. You can choose the simpler path and find peace in analog creation, like those older friends who still have an AOL email address.
Both paths require the same tender courage: owning your creative authority completely.
The Vulnerability of Authentic Choice
What I've learned approaching my core is this: The real tenderness isn't about AI changing everything. It's about finally admitting what you want to create in the world, whether that's with cutting-edge tools or traditional brushes.
The soft center beneath all the armor of "staying relevant" and "keeping up" is simply this: What do you actually want to make? What vision wants to emerge through you?
Your creative excellence has always mattered. The question isn't whether it's still needed; it's whether you're ready to stop conducting someone else's orchestra and start composing your own symphony.
The center layer is tender because it's where we stop asking "Am I good enough?" and start asking "What am I here to create?"
That tenderness isn't weakness. It's the courage to finally conduct your own orchestra.
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something." — Steve Jobs
What creative vision are you supporting in others instead of leading yourself?
Being Coached Layers: Staking Your Claim
This week, Dr. Goodman says that the more things change, the more they stay the same. He was reminded of the old quote, "Once you can fake sincerity, the rest is easy," and observed that we’ve come full circle from the 1950s to now. The ultimate question in the age of AI isn't about technology, but whether you are telling it what to say, or if it's telling you.
He says the world is crowded with "variations of the theme of who AI told you you were supposed to be." The real you, however, has no competition. His advice is simple: stake your claim on what you want to deliver. Price your unique vision and put it out there, not as a replacement for AI tools, but as an addition to them. In an ever-evolving marketplace, the economy is calling for multiple streams of income that are rooted in what is authentically yours.
Bookshelf Peeled - The Gifts of Imperfection
As we’ve explored the tender core of creative authority, a book that kept coming to mind was The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown. Her work on embracing vulnerability as a path to wholehearted living perfectly relates to The Rebel Onion, because real creative authority starts with the courage to be vulnerable.
Brené talks about the difference between fitting in and belonging. Fitting in is about changing who you are to be accepted, while belonging is about being your authentic self and being accepted for it. My years in "creative support" was a way of fitting in—adapting my creative voice to others' visions to feel valued. But stepping into creative authority is about true belonging to my own voice, which requires the deepest kind of vulnerability. The center of the onion is tender for a reason; Brené’s work taught me that the courage to lead with your own creative vision isn't about being perfect. It's about accepting the imperfection of putting yourself out there and trusting that your authentic self is more than enough.
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
The Gifts of Imperfection
Design Rebel: The Conductor
This piece was inspired by the idea of becoming the conductor of your own creative path. The video's art was created using Leonardo.ai, with the script and structure developed by me and Gemini. The voice was brought to life by ElevenLabs, and the final production was edited in Wondershare Filmora.
You are the conductor of your life - week 15
Weekly Inspired Insights I liked or found useful this week:
P.S. If this resonates with you, share it with someone. I'm dedicated to helping fellow explorers—or anyone who found this page—uncover their authentic self with humor and insight. We're all in this together, finding the courage to truly live from our core essence (or as close as we can get!).
The Growth Point Layer: Where New Life Emerges (Tentative title)
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