In a recent article, AI as the Greatest Source of Empowerment for All, OpenAI CEO of Applications Fidji Simo celebrates artificial intelligence as a solution to what she perceives as a core problem of creativity—the gap between what we imagine and our ability to realize it.
“I believe that we are all born creators, and that the ability to imagine something and make it real is a big part of what makes us human. The problem is that our ability to express that creativity is often limited by our skill sets. Not everyone has the resources, time, or training to paint, write, compose, or build.”
— Fidji Simo, AI as the Greatest Source of Empowerment for All, OpenAI
While it’s true that not everyone has the time, resources, or training to instantly turn ideas into polished works, framing skill development as an obstacle risks overlooking what makes creativity truly valuable: the journey itself. Building your craft—whether through painting, writing, composing, or coding—is not merely a barrier to be bypassed. It’s the essence of artistic discovery, the path on which creators learn who they are and how they uniquely see the world.
Practicing your craft is not an impediment to creativity – it is the creative process. Hundreds of hours of drawing, practicing scales or writing drafts are how artists learn who they are. Removing that journey outright risks removing the very discoveries that make art worthwhile.
Practice isn’t a chore — it’s the crucible of creativity
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi spent decades studying artists and
scientists. He found that when creative people are engaged in their work
they aren’t chasing a finished product; they love the process itself.
One writer described how years of morning writing sessions gave him
purpose and offered “a cistern for self‑discovery and
self‑education”[1].
Csikszentmihalyi wrote that the defining trait of creative individuals
is their ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own
sake[2].
It is during this process that artists enter what he called flow, a
state where time disappears and action and awareness
merge[3].
In that state the artist is not simply making a picture – they are
learning about themselves and what matters to them.
That learning comes through effort. Decades of research on deliberate
practice show that the amount of purposeful training one puts in is
one of the best predictors of performance. K. Anders Ericsson and
colleagues coined “deliberate practice” to describe the solitary,
goal‑focused work musicians do between lessons. The accumulated
duration of this practice distinguished the best violinists from their
peers[4], and
re‑analysis of multiple studies found that practice explained between
29 % and 61 % of the variance in
performance[4].
The researchers even noted that a college student’s memory improved
over 1 000 % after hundreds of hours of extended
practice[5].
There is no magic number of hours; world‑class pianists may invest
25,000 hours or
more[6].
This commitment is not wasted time – it is how artists develop mastery
and, through mastery, find their voice.
Art as self‑discovery and authentic expression
Great art feels personal because it is. Writers like Margaret Atwood and
Hélène Cixous argue that all writing is motivated by a compulsion to
explore the deepest parts of ourselves, comparing it to entering an
underworld to bring back unexamined
insights[7].
They acknowledge that writing‑as‑self‑discovery is not easy – “an
exercise that requires us to be stronger than
ourselves”[7]
– but it gifts the writer with a more expansive awareness of self. In a
2025 study of adolescents participating in a Creativity Camp,
researchers observed that creating art in a community led teens to
recognize that their works were inherently authentic and could not be
replicated[8].
Despite receiving the same prompts and materials, the resulting artworks
diverged widely. This experience taught participants that they were
“extremely unique” and did not need to fit
in[8].
The camp also encouraged a flexible, adventurous mindset: teens began
auditioning for plays or taking pottery classes not to achieve
perfection but to explore and help each other
learn[9].
These findings underscore that creativity is less about the final
product than about the self‑knowledge gained through the act of making.
How the Dramatica platform and Narrova support – not replace – your creative process
At The Dramatica Company we appreciate AI’s power, but we also know that storytelling is not just about generating words. The Dramatica platform takes an intent‑driven approach to narrative structure that keeps you, the author, at the centre. Our narrative engine ensures that every plot point aligns with your creative vision and helps you uncover the deeper meaning behind your story.Unlike generic text generators, Subtxt uses a mathematically backed framework to capture relationships between characters, plot points and
themes. It maps how each decision you make affects the story’s cohesion, offering tailored guidance so your personal voice
shines. Most importantly, it keeps your unique creative intent at the forefront, guiding AI capabilities to serve your storytelling
goals rather than the other way around.
Our goal is to give creators the full power of Dramatica’s story theory while using the latest in AI technology to accelerate one’s adoption of complex narrative concepts. Our next-generation multi-agentic narrative intelligence, Narrova, is there to amplify your creative process,
not shortcut it. The hours you invest in practicing your craft will
still be necessary – our tools simply provide clearer feedback and
structure so that your exploration leads somewhere more deeply meaningful.
Results‑oriented AI vs. process‑oriented storytelling
| Perspective | Orientation | Implications |
|---|---|---|
| Typical generative AI | Results‑oriented – “collapse the distance between imagination and execution” | May produce plausible outputs quickly, but can encourage shortcuts, erode ownership and fail to cultivate originality. |
| Subtxt/Narrova | Process‑oriented – supports practice and self‑discovery | Provides objective story structure and feedback while keeping the writer’s intent front‑and‑centre; encourages iterative refinement and preserves the artist’s voice. |
Looking ahead
Imagination without skill may be frustrating, but skill without
imagination is empty. AI technology can help us overcome technical
barriers, but it should never rob us of the discipline, flow and most importantly–the self‑awareness that come from working through our ideas. The OpenAI post celebrates a world where anyone can instantly generate paintings or stories; our vision is a future where tools like Subtxt and Narrova act as partners that respect the journey. By anchoring AI in a solid narrative framework and allowing your unique worldview to steer the process, we aim to empower artists to go deeper, learn more about themselves, and share stories that only they could tell.