The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in the AI Era. (Free-Range vs. Caged Chickens)
Let’s be honest… this AI thing is weird. We love it when it makes life easier, but the moment it starts creeping into our professional turf, we freak out.
AI-generated playlists? Great. Finding the shortest route avoiding tolls? Awesome! AI assisting doctors to find a cure for cancer? Give it a Nobel prize!
But, AI-generated client proposals? AI-enhanced emails? AI-generated images?
Hold up!
It’s like we’ve drawn an invisible line: AI is fine… until it’s messing with our thing.
But here’s the real thing - this is not really about AI at all. It’s about ourselves and how we see our value in a world where machines are becoming capable to do a lot of what we do.
That’s where emotional intelligence (EI) comes in. If we don’t focus on developing it, we risk getting stuck and reacting with fear rather than figuring out how to work with AI instead against it.
The Emotional Dilemma: Is AI a Tool or a Threat?
I’m not even getting into the merit of whether the results produced by AI are good or bad…
When AI isn’t stepping on our toes, we see it as a handy assistant. A productivity tool.
But as soon as it starts getting ‘too good’ at what we do, it suddenly feels like a competitor, a threat.
Writers resist AI writing tools. Designers get sceptical about AI-generated visuals. Coders don’t want AI debugging their code.
Why? Because it makes us question our own relevance.
The thing that took us years and years to master, can now be done by a machine in seconds?
Well, yes and no…
I totally get it why some people think AI is here to replace us. I do feel like that at times, when considering how fast it's evolving and how bad the economic is crisis affecting most industries atm. But the secret to stay sane and to make the most out of the situation is to learn how to use AI to augment us.
That’s where emotional intelligence can make all the difference. Instead of reacting with fear or defensiveness, we can ask: How can I use this to enhance my work and to be more creative?
But what do chickens have to do with AI, emotional intelligence and creativity? Well, that brings me to my chicken analogy… (I was walking the dog the other day and this popped into my head)
Free-Range Chickens vs. Caged Chickens: How We Use AI Matters
When you have a good level of emotional intelligence - the ability to understand, recognise, and manage emotions in yourself and others - using AI is like being a free-range chicken.
You roam around, pick what you need, take a crap here and there, but refine the results and add your own touch. You’re still doing the work, but AI helps you lay more eggs (aka ideas) with less effort and some sort of freedom.
On the other hand, if you rely entirely on AI without adding your own perspective, you’re basically a caged chicken. You’re producing, sure, but the result is low effort, mass-produced, and lacks individuality. You’re trapped - you might lay more eggs, but they’re not very appealing and I’m not sure people will be queuing up at a Farmer’s market or Waitrose to buy them.
And, of course, you can always be a wild chicken and reject AI completely. But let’s be real - wild chickens don’t lay that many eggs. (and to lay a real ‘golden egg’ you would need to be a goose anyway).
The point is... if you want to stay creative and productive, AI can be a game-changer and give you a steady stream of ideas to work on or opportunities to try new things – as long as know how to use it well.
My Own Experience Collaborating with AI
I’ve been using AI for a while now, from image generation and draft emails to coding and research, but especially to help me organise my ideas. It’s been a fascinating process.
I've even started writing my first Sci-fi novel after recovering old ideas from a HD that I thought were lost… Would I have been able to do it without AI? Maybe. I probably never did it before because I didn’t know where or how to start.
But since using AI as a creative partner - bouncing ideas, refining them, and shaping the story in a way that feels uniquely mine, I finally feel like I can do this!
And by ‘this’, I don’t mean I’m the next J.R.R Tolkien or writing a best-seller… I mean I can express my creativity in a way I could not have done before.
For years, my ideas were like scattered pieces inside my head (or in an old HD in this case) with no way to assemble them. AI is not writing my novel for me, but it’s giving me the tools to finally put those pieces together and helping me build the story I want to tell.
That, for me, is the sweet spot - using AI not as a crutch but as a collaborator. Let it help you lay more eggs, but don’t forget that you are the one building the nest.
Conclusion: Be a Free-Range Chicken
Being creative on demand is tough… it can feel like being a caged chicken laying eggs non-stop, with little room to breathe. If we let AI do all the work, we risk becoming generic and predictable.
But AI isn’t the enemy (yet) - it’s just another tool. The key is in how we use it. If we engage with AI thoughtfully and with emotional intelligence, we expand our creative potential while keeping our unique touch. And if we refuse to use AI at all, well… we won’t be producing many eggs.
So, unlike real chickens, we do have a choice: Be a caged chicken, a wild chicken, or embrace this new free-range lifestyle...
Unless, of course, the whole world decides to go vegan… in that case, we are all fine!
Let’s Connect!
How have you been using AI and how is it affecting your creativity?
We would love to hear your thoughts!
Feel free to reach out, ask questions, or share your ideas.
Let’s scrumble some eggs together!