I had a realization recently about what AI and modern tools are actually doing especially for creatives and artists.

What I’m starting to see is that AI is giving us permission to be creative again. Not by replacing creativity, but by removing the technical barriers that used to block it. You no longer need to know how to code a website, master complex software, or understand every technical layer just to build something that supports your work. Now, you can describe an idea in plain language and let the tools translate that into something real.

Words have become the interface.

That feels incredibly liberating.

What makes this even more interesting to me is the historical parallel. Socrates famously never wrote anything down. His ideas were spoken aloud - explored through dialogue - and only later recorded by his students, most notably Plato. The thinking came first. The structure followed.

In a strange way, I think AI brings us back to that mode. Speaking ideas. Letting intuition lead. Capturing thought without immediately forcing it into rigid form.

That’s essentially what I’m doing now, which is speaking freely, stream-of-consciousness, letting the ideas move naturally. I’m not diminishing writing at all. Writing is essential. But there’s something powerful about being able to think out loud again, without friction, and have those thoughts turned into something usable.

I mention all of this because I’ve been rebuilding the website for my photography publication - something I’ve wanted to do for at least five years. I had the ideas back then, but not the technical knowledge, and definitely not the budget.

Years ago, I reached out to a development team. They liked the concept, which meant a lot, but the quote came back at $26,000. The project at the time stalled.

Today, with better tools and clearer ideas, I’ve built the same thing myself for under $500.

Same vision. Same intention. Different tools.

The cost of creation is approaching zero, while the potential for expression keeps expanding. If you’re a creative person, this moment is worth paying attention to. The barrier isn’t skill anymore - it’s imagination.

What a time to be alive.