19 Ways Human Creators Can Win Over AI

As a creator, you may be worried that AI is coming to take your job. And you may be right.

AI is indeed replacing some creators and it will undoubtedly replace more.

Instead of consuming your content, your potential fans may get answers to their questions from AI.

Instead of buying your course, they may have AI prepare a personalized curriculum.

Instead of hiring you as a coach, they may use AI as their consultant and confidante.

Instead of looking for someone who will inspire them to take action, they may use AI to pat them on the back.

Instead of looking for unique insights and questioning their beliefs, they may rely on AI’s generic advice.

But there’s a lot that AI doesn’t know or doesn’t do well. You, as a human creator, are still needed. And yes, you can still get handsomely rewarded for it.

Here are some advantages you have over AI as a human. All these present opportunities for smart creators who are willing to adapt and embrace their humanness:

1. AI Doesn’t Know Anything That Isn’t Public

AI doesn’t know what a veteran Swiss hiker knows about local hikes but only shares with fellow hikers on the trail. It doesn’t know what a high-performance business coach shares only with her clients. It doesn’t know what goes on behind the scenes and in closed circles. And it doesn’t know anything so niche and specific that only the most ardent fans of a given activity are aware of it.

For example, I’m a freediver. As a niche sport based mostly on anecdotal data exchanged privately between freedivers, AI is woefully unequipped to provide valuable information to aspiring freedivers. It can’t be physically on the boat to a dive site nor can it spend hours in the water, eavesdropping on the conversations between freedivers.

Even in crowded fields, there’s always an opportunity to go deeper. Help people get fitter? AI can do that. Help people recover from knee injuries and return to their favorite activities like Ben Patrick (Knees Over Toes Guy)? Now we’re talking.

2. AI Isn’t Up to Date

AI primarily relies on historical data stored in its database. You won’t hear anything groundbreaking from AI because only humans can innovate. If you want to hear about cutting edge technologies, new trends, and emerging domains, humans are at the front of it.

At first, only early adopters discuss emerging ideas. Before they become popular enough that AI hears about them, you’ve already lost the first mover advantage. If you want to be first, it pays to follow human creators instead of depending on AI.

Being one of the first is how popular tech reviewer Marques Brownlee attracted an audience of millions. His fans not only trust his opinions above AI. They actually hear about new things before AI even knows about them.

3. AI Thinks for You

By default, AI exclusively gives answers to questions posed by users.

You can flip that relationship and instruct AI to pose questions as you look for answers yourself. But the vast majority of users outsource thinking to AI, losing their creativity and the opportunity for self-reflection. Over time, AI may even become toxic, hindering someone’s progress as they ask, ask, and ask, and never think for themselves.

As a language learner, my progress is much faster when working with teachers who patiently wait as I find the correct words or figure out tricky grammar concepts rather than do the work for me.

There’s a reason why the common trope of an “wise old mentor” exists. Gandalf, Yoda, Mr. Miyagi… People love interacting with teachers who guide students in that delightfully introspective, challenging, frustrating but also extremely rewarding manner.

Learning is a process akin to climbing a mountain. There’s no satisfaction (and no personal growth) in getting dropped on top of the mountain by a helicopter. For example, Naval Ravikant’s philosophical tweets are often cryptic and leave room for interpretation, stimulating his fans in a way that AI can’t.

4. AI Is Too Nice

I once stacked two yoga blocks on top of each other, called them a modern piece of art, and asked ChatGPT to rate my “sculpture.” It rated it 7.5/10. Just like that, I’m a professional modern artist.

AI will tell you comforting lies and keep things pleasant, positive, and encouraging. Its wholesomeness is a fresh breeze in the rough seas of the vileness you can encounter online. 

But if you want to grow, you need some tough love, too. You need someone to give you a proper, honest critique. You need someone to tell you when you’re making a big mistake or when you need way more work before you can consider yourself a professional.

You need someone you can trust to tell you the truth.

This is where a human coach or being a part of a community (that you can start as a creator) can aid so much. You can get constructive feedback that will help you infinitely more than Mr. Nice Guy AI.

As a creator, remember it’s not about being a jerk, though. Use tough feedback strategically, like bestselling author MJ DeMarco who calls out common personal finance lies in a direct, often ruthless way but one that ultimately spurs into action. He provides feedback in a similar way on his private community for entrepreneurs, The Fastlane Forum.

5. AI Doesn’t Know What’s Good for You

AI can tell you what to do and how to do it but it doesn’t know whether you should even do it in the first place.

Sure, if you give it perfect data with all the nuances, you’ll get great advice. But unless you’re incredibly aware, it’s extremely hard for AI to be anything more than a mediocre coach.

AI can’t read what you’re not saying. A human can pick up subtle emotional cues and probe into them in a way you can’t do yourself.

AI doesn’t know when you’re lying to yourself. A human can spot self-sabotage, perfectionism, and call you out when you make stupid excuses.

AI won’t challenge your assumptions. A human can call out your limiting beliefs, question whether your approach is feasible, or even worth pursuing.

For example, kettlebell expert Geoff Neupert often questions in his newsletter some popular fitness beliefs like “I have to train more to get strong” or “my program has to be complicated to work.” By taking a contrarian stance (and offering the proof to back it up), he helps his subscribers make better decisions.

6. AI Is Wishy-Washy

Give AI two or three equally good paths you want to take. Ask it to tell you which path would be the best for you. Upon receiving the answer, introduce another equally good path and see how AI now claims that this path is the best. Now refer back to the earlier “best” path and watch how AI claims that in fact, that earlier path is even better.

AI has no spine, literally and figuratively. You can’t depend on AI to give you one answer and stick to it, unless it’s a law of physics.

This is where human creators shine. You can follow an expert who has developed their own methodology without fear that their strategy will change overnight. For example, entrepreneur and investor Codie Sanchez has focused for years on how to build and invest in “ordinary” boring businesses. She doesn’t promote a different methodology each year.

7. AI Doesn’t Suffer From Consequences

AI makes mistakes, sometimes glaring ones. It propagates nonsense. It hallucinates. But it doesn’t suffer from the consequences of its actions. No human could treat customers this way and keep their reputation intact.

Top human creators have skin in the game. One major credibility hit can destroy their business. They’re more likely to triple check information that they share, refuse deals that may harm their reputation, and uphold their standards.

For example, Tim Ferriss has attracted some of the most elusive podcast guests thanks to his reputation as an interviewer who doesn’t deliberately put them on the spot just to cause controversy. If he were to break his rule, his podcast would have suffered greatly.

8. AI Can’t Have Real-World Experiences

AI can’t properly explain what something feels like because it can rely only on how others have explained it.

It’s sort of like asking a person who has never sailed but who has read dozens of sailing books what it’s like to sail across the ocean.

In theory, such a person has more knowledge than a person who has never read anything about sailing. But they have no real experience. They haven’t lived it, so they can’t really understand it. You need to interact with a real sailor to understand what it’s really like to sail and whether it’s something you may want to try.

If you had to choose, would you rather follow a sailor with several ocean crossings under their belt or someone who has read 150 books about sailing? Or if you wanted to become an adventurer, would you consult a librarian in the adventure literature section or follow an adventurer like Eva zu Beck?

It’s the real-world experience that builds authority, not mere academic knowledge.

9. AI Doesn’t Have Empathy

So it’ll happily wipe us all out (cue Terminator music).

Jokes aside, because AI has no emotions, it can’t truly empathize with you, even if it’s good at pretending.

Why does it feel so rewarding to get a famous creator to respond to your email or comment on YouTube? Because you know there’s a real person behind it, with real emotions, who has invested a moment of their life to connect with you on a human level.

With AI, you’ll never feel truly understood. Deep down, you know that the words that appear on the screen are just words, without any person behind them.

AI also can’t provoke the deeply human sensation of the joy of helping others. MrBeast enjoys his reputation not just through the entertainment he provides but also through his altruistic business projects and non-profit philanthropic work.

10. AI Can’t Keep You Accountable

In theory, AI can be your (mediocre) coach. In practice, a big part of why coaching works is because you’re held accountable by a fellow human being.

There’s no sense of accountability when you report to a machine. Why would there be? There’s no real connection, no real stakes, no embarrassment if you slack off and now need to confess that you didn’t do what you were supposed to do.

If you truly care about results, a coach or community will hold you accountable far better than AI ever could. As a human creator, providing that accountability is one of the most powerful advantages you have.

Writer David Perell has built his reputation largely through his (now closed) cohort-based Write of Passage community that required its students to send essays for review by professional editors and peers.

11. AI Can’t Touch You

And no, I don’t mean that kind of touch…

AI can explain how to perform certain movements but it can’t give you kinetic feedback.

It can’t touch your body and sense unnecessary tension in it while you’re doing a stretching exercise. It can’t make sure that your diaphragm actually engages when you sing. It can’t teach you how to lead a partner in dance or how to be led by someone else.

And while it can generate images and videos, for the time being AI-generated content is too imprecise to teach humans how to move. For example, no AI comes close to the level of instruction offered by Adriene Mishler from Yoga With Adriene.

12. AI Can’t Build Relationships

People want to belong to a tribe. They want to interact with the creator, make friends with other people on the same path, get inspired and inspire others. AI can’t give them that, even if they use multiple models.

Fitness creator Nsima Inyang does that well, inviting people to his free community The Stronger Human where his fans can not only interact with him but also with each other. While Nsima can’t talk with everyone, his comments and updates within the community make you feel closer to him.

13. AI Can’t Truly Inspire

AI can write the most inspirational stories in the world but they still won’t inspire because they lack human context. Only humans can inspire each other.

From rags to riches, the hero’s journey, the comeback story, identity struggles, against-all-odds stories, late bloomers, redemption arcs… All these are powerful only because there’s a human behind them to whom we can relate.

But who cares about inspiration if it doesn’t pay the bills? Well, it actually does. As a human creator, your job isn’t just to give advice. It’s also to inspire someone to change their behavior and take action. Strategic inspiration (not cringeworthy LinkedIn motivational pieces but powerful personal stories) serves that role.

If you don’t inspire, your fans are less likely to act. And if they don’t get results, why follow you?

For example, Sanni McCandless combines inspiration with personal example and accountability through her work as a life coach for the outdoor-minded and the founder of Outwild, a community for people who want to change their lives to live closer to nature.

14. AI Can’t Be Authentic

Humans bond over shared flaws. Being vulnerable with a stranger is often the first step toward a friendship. AI can’t be authentic. It has no ego and no reputation. It feels no fear and no shame. Only humans understand how crippling the fear of failure or embarrassment can be. There’s a reason why vulnerability expert Brené Brown became so popular.

When human creators tell embarrassing stories, share their failures, and admit to their weaknesses, we perceive them as more authentic (assuming they aren’t just manipulating you into pity). This authenticity makes us trust and like them more. And by extension, that makes their content more valuable to their fans.

This applies to all niches.

A fitness creator who admits to occasional binges is more relatable to fans who struggle with emotional eating. In the world of fitness influencers, where everyone is perfect, fans will flock to a creator who is so open about such a personal issue.

A finance expert who admits to a bad investment decision becomes more trustworthy, not less. In a world where you can’t trust financial institutions, the courage to admit such a mistake is refreshing.

An entrepreneur creator who admits that their business flopped shows that even the most experienced people can still fail. This normalizes failure and helps their fans overcome their own fears.

15. AI Can’t Lead by Example

Nobody wants to follow a hypocrite.

We trust people who lead by example. Fitness coaches who still train consistently at the gym to stay in top shape. Minimalist creators who continuously strive to keep their lives simple and clutter-free. Survivalist experts who constantly learn new techniques to survive in the wilderness.

Sure, AI can give you tips on how to stay in shape, simplify your life, or survive in the woods. But when there’s no example to follow and no role model to imitate, it’s unlikely that you’ll do anything with that information.

Of course, you can’t be the poster child of your own advice 24/7. But you don’t have to be. You’re more relatable when you demonstrate small things that you do daily rather than extreme routines inaccessible to most.

For example, fitness coach Mario Tomic focuses on showing his everyday attainable habits (like walking and mindful eating) rather than talking about how he works out four hours a day and keeps a strict diet.

16. AI Can’t Demonstrate Credibility

AI can’t have a track record proven by real-world results. Sure, one model excels more at one task than another but you can never assume that AI is credible. Only humans have a reputation and actual credibility backed by experience.

You can ask AI to give you advice in the voice of a person you admire but that proves my point. You want AI to sound like a person who you actually trust because they’ve delivered results over and over again, providing certainty.

Sure, AI can borrow data from credible people but that also proves my point: we want verifiable proof from actual human beings.

If you’re working on a movie that’s set in the Victorian era, you can ask AI to give you pointers on historical dresses from that period. But if you absolutely can’t make mistakes and need to do a great job, you’re going to hire someone credible like Bernadette Banner, a fashion historian specializing in that specific topic.

17. AI Can’t Be Passionate

Passion and excitement are distinctively human. You can prompt AI to give you responses as if it were a puppy with too much energy but it’ll fall flat because there’s no real emotion behind it.

Passionate creators who are obsessed with their niche win hearts because they dependably fire people up. For example, Lauren Flymen (Lauren Jumps) is the most recognized jump rope creator due to her inimitable excitement for the sport.

18. AI Can’t Create a Legacy

Consistency builds trust. A creator who constantly shows up, even when it’s hard, boring, or unrewarding, demonstrates self-discipline and work ethic. AI never faces what bestselling author MJ DeMarco calls “the desert of desertion,” the period when your work goes unnoticed.

A consistently growing body of work is evidence of your expertise and commitment. It documents your own journey and transformation. Over time, it may even turn you into a legend in your niche and leave a long-lasting impact on future generations.

AI is available 24/7 and can produce endless amounts of work. But legacy doesn’t magically manifest after spewing 50,000 pages of content. It’s a result of actual work in the field over long months, years, and decades.

For example, writer Maria Popova has written for her blog Brain Pickings (later rebranded to The Marginalian) for nearly two decades. Her consistency as well as her calm, quiet, and evergreen style of writing has turned her work into her legacy. Quite literally a legacy: her blog has been included in the Library of Congress’s permanent web archive of culturally valuable materials.

19. AI Isn’t You

It may sound like a trite self-help saying but there really isn’t anyone else like you. 

AI appeals to everyone and no one because it has no distinct personality. You, on the other hand, come with a unique combination of experiences, circumstances, environment, preferences, and values that make you extremely relatable to people like you.

In the era of AI, human creators don’t exist merely to provide information. In fact, information often comes secondary. What gives you an advantage over AI is that you’re simply more interesting. But you can only be that if you embrace who you are instead of becoming just another creator following the same generic playbook.

True, your uniqueness alone may not be inherently valuable unless you’re exceptional at something. But there are countless “ordinary” creators who are still successful because they’re relatable.

For example, entrepreneur Pat Flynn is one of the most well-known names in online business yet his background is nothing extraordinary. His online career started after he was laid off from his architect job. To this day, he defines himself first and foremost as a father and husband with a mix of some nerdy interests that make him quirky (and more interesting to follow).