I’ve used many AI tools to write and edit content over the past few years. I love AI because it’s helped me out of a pinch—like when I’m working with a tight word count for a headline or a limited character count for a CTA button.
But there was a time before AI when you had to brainstorm—alone or with someone else.
This came to mind recently as I snapped a picture of my salad and immediately thought about how to caption it. A few options popped into my head, and I realized each one opened a different creative path. I could set up a poll, go witty, be a bit wordy—the list goes on. Here are a few ideas that came to mind:
How would you caption this photo? It might depend on what you were using it for, right?
- Sliced is the new chopped
- Sliced vs. chopped: How do you prep your salad?
- What’s in your salad?
- Skip the caption—just write the whole recipe instead
- Etc.
That quick solo ideation session—without any AI—felt fresh. A little nostalgic. Maybe even a bit unsettling. Has AI replaced brainstorming? Am I… a robot now?
According to Psychology Today’s article “How AI Can Transform Brainstorming,” the answer isn’t that AI has replaced brainstorming—it’s that it’s changed the way we do it.
John Nosta writes, “As we navigate the Cognitive Age, the process of brainstorming is being reshaped by the advent of artificial intelligence and large language models, heralding a new era of techno-catalyzed ideation.” He adds that “AI-driven tools can facilitate a more structured and efficient brainstorming process,” helping to guide your narrative and tailor it toward a specific goal. (I’m paraphrasing.)
Before AI: the human brain. After AI: a creative partner.
Years ago, I worked with a team of talented professionals who all had strong perspectives and were invested in the project’s success. That said, they didn’t always provide content specs, which left me with some big question marks.
So I leaned on the organization’s evolving brand guidelines and decided the best approach was to offer options: A, B, and C. We’d see which one resonated most with leadership. Sometimes it was A or B—or sometimes D: a remix of the original three. It worked because decision-makers had something concrete to respond to.
And how did I get to A, B, and C? By brainstorming—with myself, a thesaurus, a dictionary, and Google. This was pre-AI.
To do the same with AI today—and maybe even do it better—you have to be on top of your prompt game. You have to instruct the tool effectively. The quality of output still depends on the human input: the creative constraints you set, the tone you define, and the context you provide. In that way, AI is still a partner, not a replacement.
Let’s just hope machine intelligence keeps wanting to collaborate with human intelligence—otherwise, we may all end up out of work… and maybe a little too robotic for our own good.
