How to Be Authentic in an AI World: Three Critical Tips

Authenticity means erasing the gap between what you firmly believe inside and what you reveal to the outside world. — Adam Grant

Let's face a hard truth: the world has gone AI-crazy.

If you feel like the internet is hollow and repetitive lately, I get it. Navigating the online landscape is growing more challenging every month. Artificially generated profiles are almost indistinguishable from real people. Digital art is a regurgitation of original pieces and concepts smashed together in fever-dream ways. The so-called "prompt-to-post" model is on the rise, meaning things like speed, quantity, and ease are now preferable to individuality and uniqueness.

Consequentially, you might be noticing the absence of some pretty big human qualities on social media and communication platforms, and that's because we humans aren't the ones creating content anymore; we just claim ownership. That doesn't mean there isn't a time and place for AI and intelligent assistance. Many of the up-and-coming technologies are very good at certain things, and it would be foolish of society to shun them entirely.

But when using these machines means sacrificing our own authenticity, where do we draw the line?

This, my friend, all depends on what you hope to get out of what you're doing. It comes down to what genuinely fulfils you. If your desire is to create a flood of content that potentially bamboozles the algorithms, then perhaps AI is for you. (Mind you, that content is also being generated and posted by dozens of other people who plugged similar prompts into AI.) But if you thrive in authenticity and originality, the last thing you'd want to do is put what amounts to a mega-set of complex codes in charge of your creations.

In my coaching program, The Inward Explorer: A Creative Deep-Dive, we get into what keeps our wheels of authenticity rolling down the ever-artificial online highway. Here are a few choice tips for maintaining that while also nurturing your inner creator.

TIP ONE: REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

A painter looking back as he sketches out his next artwork.

When we hit adulthood, the time we have to create naturally dwindles. We get busy; we have jobs to hold; we start families. We veer off in new directions, and even adopt styles that aren't our own, but rather conform us to broader society. It's easy for the authentic self to become buried under these responsibilities and experiences.

Therefore, we must unbury him/her/them. When we look inward and rediscover who we are at our core, we get our voice back. We shift into a space where what we create is more genuinely us.

TIP TWO: USE ORIGINALITY LIKE THE SUPERPOWER IT IS

A blonde child wearing a blue mask and holding open his black Batman cape.

Young children are remarkeably good at originality. It's because they haven't yet been inhibited by external factors like societal norms, peer pressure, or judgments. Children tend to be self-expressive without boundary, something that diminishes with time.

But it doesn't have to! In fact, the more tuned-in you are to your real self, the more authentically you can live and express yourself. The easier it becomes to create original art, writing, content, and life moments. Originality is a superpower. It's what sets us apart from the pack and, when used to our advantage, even keeps the algorhythms hungry for more. Use it.

TIP THREE: IGNORE THE HATERS

A man in a black shirt yelling with an angry face.

It's no secret that negative reactions to what we create will happen. No human being has ever produced something unanimously beloved, and no human being ever will. It's just the nature of things when consciousness, perspective, free will, and choice enter the picture and influence certain people's perceptions.

Don't create with the haters in mind. Do it for yourself, first and foremost. Then, those who love your work will love it for all the right reasons. And those who don't love it? Well, they don't even matter. Besides, they'll be the ones pumping out AI content without a shred of authenticity . . . so who should be critiquing who, really?

Authenticity isn't magic, it's honesty. Vulnerability. Originality. Things that are disappearing under the deluge of empty content we can't seem to escape these days. And as the AI craze worsens (it will, believe me), our ability to persist with authenticity will become more and more valuable. It's how we'll stay connected to who we really are, and how we'll share creations all our own, un-manipulated and raw, with a world quickly forgetting how to do the same.