There’s a familiar tension echoing through our feeds right now. 

It's a big fear. 

Specifically, the fear that AI is erasing artists, replacing creators, and turning craftsmanship into code. 

And I get it. 

As someone who’s spent years researching the intersections of innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship, I understand the emotional and economic disruption unfolding.

The reality: This isn’t the first time we’ve been here.

In the 1800s, when the camera arrived, many painters feared the end of visual art. 

Why paint a portrait when a photograph could capture it faster, cheaper, and “more accurately”? 

But instead of dying, painting evolved. Impressionism emerged. 

Abstract art flourished. Artists explored new ideas because photography freed them from documentation and moved their work into expression.

The same happened with the phonograph. Critics claimed it would kill live music. 

But recorded music became a global medium. 

• More listeners. 
• More genres. 
• A larger pie.

Fast forward to the digital design revolution: desktop publishing was going to end professional graphic design. 

Instead, it ushered in a wave of new creatives, democratizing tools, and sparking industries we now take for granted.

Remember Napster? 

Yeah, as chaotic as it was, it pushed the industry to rethink distribution. 

Right now, music is being made, heard, and monetized than ever before. 

So yes, the AI debate is real, especially around consent, compensation, and attribution. 

And yes, there’s justifiable resentment. 

But resentment often comes at the edge of disruption. 

It's where old systems meet new models and where value needs to be redefined.

I believe this moment is no different.

We’re witnessing the next leap in creative expression. AI won’t eliminate artists. It will force us to ask deeper questions: 

• What is human-made? 
• What does authenticity mean? 
• How do we co-create with machines and still protect the soul of our work?

Design, art, and innovation are always in flux. 

They evolve. 

They stretch. 

They include more people. 

And in doing so, they often move from elitist preservation to ecosystem creation.

Let’s not just protect the past. 

Let’s shape what’s next, responsibly, ethically, and imaginatively.

Just like the camera didn’t kill painting, AI won’t kill creativity. 

It might just hand us a bigger, stranger, more vibrant canvas.

Your Co-Pilot,

Steve