Business of Story #553: How to Turn AI Into Artful Intelligence That Inspires Your Brand Storytelling, With Jen Perry
Feb 2, 2026
Jen Perry, Executive Creative Director at Vagrants with 20+ years leading creative teams for brands like JetBlue and Dunkin', talks about turning “artificial intelligence” into “artful intelligence.” She explores keeping human emotional intelligence in storytelling. She covers audience-first creative processes, using AI as an augmentation tool, and practical ways to protect thoughtful, empathy-driven ideation.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Artful Intelligence Beats Cold Labels
- Reframe 'artificial intelligence' as 'artful intelligence' to emphasize creativity and human intention.
- Artful intelligence highlights skillful use of AI to amplify humanness rather than replace it.
Genie Replaced Costly Copywriting Work
- Tom Schwab switched from a custom GPT to the Story Cycle Genie and saw faster, higher-quality results.
- He recreated an email sequence in minutes that previously cost over $1,000 and weeks of revision.
Use AI To Synthesize, Humans To Curate
- Use AI as a synthesis and augmentation tool, not a replacement for creative insight.
- Rely on human taste and emotional intelligence to curate and direct AI output.