Read the article or listen by clicking HERE.
The world is filled with hundreds of thousands of people who do the exact same thing as you do, with many considerably better!
With that in mind, how do we compete in any area, leave our mark on the world, and hopefully prosper when so many people are working in the same creative space?
Even more concerning is how artificial intelligence (AI) is being developed to do the things that creative people do. Is your specialty in art and design? Well, text-to-image generators are now a reality and can produce images with clarity and wit.
The most important thing you can do to keep up with the competition is staying in the game! Here are some tips on how to do that:
Appreciate your resource-laden environment as treasure that you can use for your own purposes, and do so freely.
Identify your talents, even if fledgling, then gather resources to learn more before you actually start working productively.
Research your interest areas by gathering information, then when you have considerable resources, narrow it down to the "best of the best." Delete the rest.
Identify the tools you need to further develop your interests, whether or not you can afford those tools. Stay current and acquire the best that you can afford. And if you can't pay cash, this is the one area where buying on credit pays off.
Spend time in special-interest communities, whether in person or online. Remember, people leverage people and therefore, it is important to go out of your way meet more people!
Enjoy people who do similar things. Don't isolate yourself!
Publish your work or ideas online in all relevant media, including your own website. Yes, you'll acquire viewers (although perhaps gradually), but more important, by showing your work, you grow your skills
Determine how you can earn your living. Keep in mind that skill areas are fluid, even those that are highly specialized, and can combine with many other skill areas. It's better to piece yourself into a potentially common income-earning activity, than hope for a perfect opportunity only available to a select few.
Be specific and put it out there! Yes, you want to hang around with people who share your interests, but don't hope people will find and develop you. Instead, show others how you are developing yourself by sharing your knowledge and by publishing or showcasing your own work.
Be happy for successful people, and describe them with enthusiasm. The more you know what makes people successful and why, the more you learn about what you need to do in your own life to be a better competitor.
Ultimately, although it is important to learn from others and study hard, the only thing that really counts for you is your output. Do nothing, and you'll be rewarded with the same.
Links:
The following links stress the importance of you pinpointing your interests and talents to prepare yourself for expanding trends now fueled by artificial intelligence.
What color is your parachute? Popularly available since 1970, this is one of the best books written on how to access your talents and plan your future.
Google Search: How is artificial intelligence impacting the job market. While globalization removed almost all barriers to any aspect of the job market, artificial intelligence is leading the way to the greatest changes. Be aware and prepare!
Natural Language Processing, a Wikipedia article. NLP is the dominant technology shaping the future. Learn what it does and see where you can fit in.
Google Search: How do people prepare for a job market dominated with natural language processing. Spend time researching this area!
Artificial Intelligence and the Arts: Toward Computational Creativity, by Ramón López de Mántaras, for bbvaopenmind.com.
AI and the Future of Work in the United States, by Pragya Jain for American.edu
Toward understanding the impact of artificial intelligence on labor, by a team of authors for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Listen to this article:
Written by Karen Little of Sketch-Views
I hope you find my Blogs helpful! If so, help me by "liking" my illustrations in my two Redbubble stores and even consider buying from them! Littleviews features Dog and Pet illustrations, and Sketchviews more General Illustrations.