Generative AI tools are literally everywhere nowadays. All you have to do is hop on your phone, open an app, and you’ll have some generative AI tools at your fingertips.
AI tools are also becoming a lot more versatile, offering new and exciting use cases. Whether you’re looking to animate your hand-drawn scribbles with AI, loop AI beats over an old Bollywood track (works better than it should, honestly), or are even looking to use LLM chatbots to churn out wild ideas for creative writers, there are sure to be some generative tech offerings that can support your creative output.
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Artists have always grabbed whatever tools they have at their disposal, whether it’s spray paint cans, Photoshop, or GarageBand, and just bent it to fit their own style. Generative tools are quite simply, just the latest gadget in the toybox. Sometimes it cuts down the boring admin side of creative projects, other times it spins up a crazy idea that triggers your own inspiration. And that’s the whole point.
Here’s what gen-tech can offer artists of every discipline, and how you can make full use of it to take your craft to the next level.
- Artists/Illustrators Getting Past the Blank Canvas
The worst part of drawing? That foreboding blank page. Every illustrator or artist knows it. There’s nothing worse than having a staring contest with Procreate at 1am, questioning your decision to ever get into art in the first place. These days, many artists are sidestepping that hurdle with help from nifty tools like Adobe Firefly’s AI character generator. And no, it’s not about getting AI to “do the art for them”. It’s more so about generating cool new designs and ideas that expand your mind. Think of it as stretching before a run, but for your brain.
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Then the real work starts. The brush textures, the odd little idiosyncrasies in the linework, the colours that jump out of the screen. None of that comes from an app. That’s hours of your hard-earned experience and expertise coming through. The tool just gives you a kickstart when you’re stuck in a creative rut, which is sometimes all you need to get the ball rolling.
- Writers: Sparking the First Sentence
Every writer has wrestled with the terror of an empty page and generative text tools/LLM chatbots have become the modern equivalent of bouncing ideas off a (very patient) friend in a coffee shop. These tools don’t ghostwrite your book, but they do help give you new ideas so you’re not staring into the great abyss of an empty Google doc and praying to the writing gods.
Some writers use it to test out character interactions before committing them to the full script. Others are after a bit of fluff — a made-up town name, some weird folklore, and all the little deets that enrich a fantasy world. Sure, half of it probably gets trashed. But the other half? It can be pretty useful. But real talk: readers aren’t coming back because your piece uses fancy words like “tavern.” They’re there for your voice, your rhythm, the one line that actually makes them feel something. That bit’s untouchable.
See how writers are (and are not) incorporating AI into their processes here.
- Generative Tools in the Music Studio
Once every decade or so, music gets blessed with a shiny new toy. The 80s were defined by synthesizers, the 90s by samplers, the 2000s by GarageBand on the dodgy family laptop. Generative tools are just the next stop along that groovy tech highway. It’s what producers use when they’re stuck on a bassline at stupid o’clock, or trying to hash out a few beats without burning the midnight oil in the studio. Sometimes it spits out something so weird that it actually somehow works. Sometimes it’s just meh.
But Gen-tech can only do so much. Much of what makes music so amazing is the human touch. It’s the goosebumps from the lyric that absolutely ruins you, the drop that rattles your chest, the hook you can’t stop humming all day long. That’s where the heart and soul exist and it’s what resonates the most. The software just clears some space so artists can get to their destination a touch faster.
- Helping Indie Filmmakers Plan Smarter
If you’ve ever tried to shoot a short film with little to no money, you know the pain. Big studios have storyboard teams and endless budgets. Indie filmmakers? Nothing but a buddy with some free time on the weekends and maybe a tripod ordered from Amazon, if you’re lucky. Generative tools are a lifesaver here.
Directors can block out a scene on a laptop, mess around with camera angles or even test lighting before spending a dime or booking fancy equipment. Animators can rough out sketches before committing (literal) weeks to hand-drawing frames. You can even use AI to generate your own scripts, making it easier to take your project from conceptualisation to your first filming day and beyond.
But of course, that doesn’t mean the program decides anything. There’s not a single app or tool that will be able to decide how a line is recited by an actor, or which cut makes your stomach drop. That’s instinct and practice. What these resources do is clear some of the planning clutter, allowing filmmakers to concentrate more on story and less on logistics.
- Designing Clothes Without the Waste
Fashion has never been afraid of new toys. 3D printing, digital runways in lockdown, and now generative tools are enjoying their moment. Instead of burning weeks testing samples, designers can sketch on a screen, swap fabrics with a click and figure out whether an idea’s worth chasing long before they’ve touched a sewing machine. Less waste, faster results.
And it’s not only newbies to the fashion world who are tinkering on laptops. Even the big luxury houses are dabbling with AI. Gucci, for example, has been experimenting with generative AI to remix archive looks and test out fresh ideas. For indie designers, it’s even better: you can play fabric roulette with crazy ideas without blowing your budget or spending thousands on fabric that ultimately ends up in the bin. The tech gives you more room to experiment before the final steps of turning a piece of fabric into an incredible fit that just so happens to make people feel equally incredible when they slip into it.
- Messing About for the Fun of It
Not every project has to be serious. Lots of people (yourself and ourselves included) are using AI to design silly posters for birthday parties, make funny memes, or doodle logos for their imaginary future businesses. Even parents and grandparents are now experimenting with AI, which is pretty amazing if you think about it. Sure, much of what’s created won’t leave the group chat or Instagram story archive, and that’s totally OK. It’s just people experimenting and having fun, and sometimes that’s enough.
The good news is that the door is open wider than it used to be. You don’t need expensive software or a fancy design degree. Curiosity is enough. And if it brings joy or laughter to someone’s day, it’s worth its weight in gold.
Elevate your Creative Output with Generative AI Tech
Generative tools are ubiquitous now — you’ll find them in music studios, sketchbooks and fashion runways. Sometimes, they’ll save you some time. Occasionally, they’ll throw you a curveball. And most of the time, they’re a lot of fun to mess around with when you’re bored.
So if you’re interested, by all means give it a try. Keep the ideas you like, bin the ones you don’t. No rules, no pressure. If it makes your job lighter, or more fun, terrific. If not, you’ll still have your own way of creating, and it’s the bit people return for. There’s nothing to lose, so why not try something new? You never know what you might stumble upon or accidentally create!