Creativity Is the Gateway to AI Transformation

My creative experience building an AI podcast co-host says it all.

Hear all about it on the next episode of the Psych Tech @ Work Podcast - coming soon!

AI skills are essential but daunting

AI adoption is accelerating—over 70% of companies report they’re actively integrating AI tools into their workflows. But for the people expected to use those tools, it’s a different story.

Most professionals say they feel unprepared or even anxious about using AI on the job. Traditional training often falls short with AI skills because it focuses on tools, not mindset.

And the stakes are high: as AI becomes embedded in everyday work, careers will increasingly rely on comfort and expertise with AI.

This gap and the demand for innovative strategies to close it has been top of mind for me. Good news - my fascination with AI led me to a solution! (more on this later)

Creativity unlocks AI skills

I recently gave a talk at a meeting of the New Orleans AI Philosopher’s group (AKA NOAI), on AI and the future of our local economy.

At this event I saw a talk by Jimmy Lepore Hagan—an artist, designer and educator—who shared a fascinating approach to AI adoption that is fresh, unique, and noteworthy.

Jimmy’s talk was about the value of creativity in lowering fear of AI. He demonstrated some concepts from a workshop series he has developed featuring a series of low stakes, creative exercises grounded in design thinking to help people build comfort, confidence, and curiosity when working with AI.

As a workplace psychologist I immediately saw the potential for a collaboration - applying Jimmy’s hands-on educational model to my world to help people leaders solve a difficult problem.

As someone who’s spent decades applying psychological science to the development and measurement of human traits in the workplace, I have experience understanding the impact of creativity on outcomes that are directly related to work performance.

As I processed this stuff- I took a step back and reviewed foundational research that shaped my earlier work—this time, through the lens of AI. The connections stood out immediately. Traits like divergent thinking, cognitive flexibility, and creative self-efficacy have long been linked to performance, but they also play a critical role in how people approach new, uncertain technologies. The evidence is clear: creativity and experiential learning do more than build skills—they tap into deeply human strengths that make people more open, adaptable, and ready to thrive in the face of change.

My dance with AI says it all

It became pretty clear to me that a collaboration with Jimmy could really have some legs.

To get the ball rolling I invited Jimmy to be a guest on my Podcast “Psych Tech @ Work”.

To prepare I wanted to gain some first hand experience with using creativity to help me sharpen my AI skills.

I suck at coding and the requirement to use Python for this definitely gave me some anxiety, but I knew ChatGPT could somehow have my back.

Thus came the idea to challenge myself (and have some fun) building an AI podcast co-host, Mayda Tokens.

Mapping out and executing a workflow to bring Mayda to life threw me plenty of curveballs. Some of ChatGPT’s more noteworthy and frustrating shenanigans included:

* Multiple times ChatGPT relentlessly tried, and continually failed, to solve technical issues; but would not give up until I suggested that we were going in circles in a blind alley and maybe we should explore alternative methods. This prompt led immediately to a set of viable alternatives that would never have been explored if I hadn't decided to pull the plug.

* When I backed ChatGPT into a corner I was flabbergasted when, instead of hallucinating a solution or looking for another option, it simply refused to help me. This was a head scratching result that must have exposed a ghost in the machine because its prime directive is NEVER to say NO!

* As I explored different options for Mayda’s voice, my text to speech output randomly switched to Japanese and then to emoji

* As we hit dead ends trying to figure out how to bring Mayda into my podcast studio, I stupidly followed its instructions to run to Best Buy and Guitar Center to buy unnecessary hardware that neither place actually sold.

In the three weeks it took to bring Mayda to life, I became hyper-focused—borderline obsessed—with working through many obstacles. The dopamine hits I got each time we solved a challenge together reminds me that my brain chemistry is essential for accessing and applying uniquely human traits like creativity, critical thinking, resilience, and tolerance for ambiguity.

The interplay between my human biology and psychology was essential for winning the day, and my experience building Mayda really hammered home the value of creative collaboration with AI.

Our workshop is the gateway to fearless AI skills

Learn how we’re helping companies build fearless, AI-ready teams.

Viewing AI as a dance partner is the paradigm that serves as the foundation of our workshop. Instead of lectures, videos, and formulaic exercises; we use creative, hands-on activities that help people relate to AI in a way that feels playful, safe, and real.

In our workshop participants explore AI through:

* Improvised dialogue with generative models

* Creative prompt challenges

* Group problem-solving sprints

* Human-AI art collaborations

* Guided reflection and peer feedback

By mapping each of these design thinking centric, hands-on exercises to psychological principles—like creative self-efficacy, openness to experience, and experiential learning—the workshop becomes more than fun. It becomes a stealth learning experience where participants not only gain essential AI skills, they undergo cognitive changes that empower them to believe in the value of partnering with AI.

We believe our workshop can be a difference-maker for companies navigating AI transformation—and a real competitive advantage for those that are bold enough to think differently about AI adoption.

To learn more about our workshop, the collaborative ideas behind it, and meet Mayda Tokens Visit our workshop page and be sure to listen to our conversation about it on the next edition of my Psych Tech @ Work podcast.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit charleshandler.substack.com