My New Assistant

I hired Gemini.

I really love the process of creating. There’s a specific kind of joy in mulling over what to illustrate, what to photograph, or how to animate a new idea. For me, these aren't just tasks—they’re excellent exercises for my brain and a consistent source of dopamine.

But the reality is that I’m genuinely strapped for time. I have the same 24 hours as everyone else, but my priorities are shifting. I want to split my day in a way that actually suits my life, and sometimes that means I can’t consistently create at the volume I’d like.

That’s where AI comes in. It’s advancing fast enough to make the "logistics" of creativity much simpler. It allows me to focus on the photography and the core art, while accelerating the parts I don't want to get bogged down in. In the past, I’ve used tools like ChatGPT to help me brainstorm titles and descriptions for my photo sets, or to help with scheduling and editing blog posts. Those tools helped me build momentum and get from 0 to 1 fairly quickly.

This time around, I needed a bit more.

While I’ve stayed consistent with my favorite parts of the process—the actual shooting and editing—I haven't been keeping up with the "packaging" side of things. Creating covers and animating assets for my website and audience was starting to hold me back. So, I hired a new assistant: Gemini.

Gemini has access to a powerful tool called Nano Banana that generates amazing images—the kind of visuals that would have taken me eons to learn how to execute on my own. I’m really enjoying the results; I just have to remember to ask nicely.

Does this mean my creativity is dying? Not at all. It means I’m finally getting the time I need to recharge my batteries without letting that need drain my momentum or stall me from sharing my work with the world. I’m not a doomer or a gloomer—I’m just accepting help so I can split my 24 hours exactly the way I want to.