The Art of Letting AI Handle the Boring Stuff

Last year, I had the chance to sit down with Katie Rickson, a brilliant copywriter who opened up about how her perspective on AI had shifted, from initial doubt to seeing it as a trusted collaborator in her work. 

As someone building AI tools at Contented, these conversations fascinate me - they show how creatives are finding their own way to work with AI while staying true to their craft.
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The Evolution

If you think back to the days of transcribing interviews word-for-word or staring at an empty screen waiting for inspiration, you’ll get where this is coming from. As a former journalist, I’ve spent far too many hours on those laborious tasks. AI has completely transformed that process - but it’s also brought up important questions about how to keep our work authentic and grounded.

Katie told me she used to rely on basic transcription tools that would churn out 15-20 pages of raw text for every hour-long conversation. Organising and making sense of it all took hours—time she could’ve spent on the creative, meaningful parts of her work.

Now she works on everything from annual reports to case studies using Contented. The best part? She says AI has actually given her the confidence to take on bigger projects. Instead of drowning in admin work, she can focus on what she does best - interpreting information and adding her unique voice to every piece.

But what really stands out is how AI allows her to capture those small, human moments that bring stories to life.

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Here's my favourite example - Katie was interviewing someone for a book when a helicopter flew overhead. That random moment triggered a memory for her interviewee about growing up near rescue helicopters. Because she wasn't buried in note-taking, she caught that perfect detail and wove it into the story. 

Katie is also a mental health and neurodiversity advocate - she lives with bipolar. Contented helps her create presentations - assisting her to articulate what she wants to say and refining the details for her slides. ‍

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Keeping it Human‍

What I’ve learned from hearing stories like Katie’s is simple: AI is at its best when it handles the routine, mechanical parts of the process, leaving people to focus on the creative work only they can do. As Katie put it, “When technology becomes the end rather than the means, that’s when it’s not right.”

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Finding Your Way‍

One story that really stuck with me came from a communications manager who uses our tools. He told me something interesting - when people compliment his content, he sometimes hesitates to mention AI's role. Not because he's hiding anything, but because he feels his work is more authentically his than ever. He can finally focus on adding real value instead of getting bogged down in the routine.

As we keep building and tweaking our tools, we're staying focused on one thing: supporting human creativity, not replacing it. For solo practitioners like Katie, this means giving them tools that help them confidently take on bigger projects - without sacrificing their creative standards or burning out from admin overload.

I think that's what excites me most about this whole journey - seeing how tools like ours can help people do more of what they love, and less of what drains them.