Podcast Summary

Podcast: This Can't Be That Hard
Host: Annemie Tonken
Guest: Colie James
Episode: #347 – When Technology Meets Creativity with Colie James
Date: December 16, 2025

Overview:

This episode is a rich, behind-the-scenes conversation on integrating AI into creative businesses, particularly photography. Host Annemie Tonken and guest Colie James explore how photographers can use AI—without losing their unique voice—to streamline content creation, save time, and stay competitive. They break down the process of developing AI-powered tools, discuss common misconceptions about AI, and examine the evolving standards for content quality in an AI-saturated market. Special focus is given to the new AI-powered blogging tool in Annemie’s Consistency Club subscription.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Arrival of AI in Creative Businesses

• AI is Unavoidable: AI is now a “hot topic” that creative entrepreneurs can’t ignore. (A, 00:30)
• Ignoring AI is a mistake for business owners and artists, as it’s “touching just about everything in our world.”

  “As artists and business owners, ignoring this new development…is a big mistake.” – Annemie (A, 00:55)

2. Getting Started with AI: Excitement and Skepticism

• The Early Days: Annemie’s entry into AI emulates many creatives: starting with ChatGPT, hoping for instant solutions (A, 06:23).
• Her first output for blogging was “garbage,” highlighting the importance of good prompts and strategy.

  “The garbage that came out of that was so profoundly bad that I was just like, well, never mind...” – Annemie (A, 07:22)

• Both Colie and Annemie acknowledge that the most valuable AI tools require hours of prompt refining, testing, and loading in “knowledge files”—not just plugging in prompts.

  “To get consistently good output from an AI tool, there is so much work that goes in to the front end.” – Annemie (A, 08:37)

3. AI vs Human Creativity: Garbage In, Garbage Out

• Simply using ChatGPT with minimal input won’t produce unique, valuable, brand-aligned output.
• Human-Led AI: Annemie's approach, inspired by Kinsey Soderbergh’s “human-centered, human-led AI,” ensures tools require user input for authenticity and differentiation (A, 13:11).

  “The way that we put this blog tool together...the photographers who are using it first sort of dialogue with the tool...” – Annemie (A, 13:59)

4. Building an AI-Powered Blog Tool for Photographers

• Background: Annemie’s Consistency Club was originally about templated social and email content.
• Blogging was avoided due to risks of duplicate SEO content and the time-intensive, non-scalable nature of truly personal blog writing (A, 16:52).
• AI’s mainstream adoption raises the bar: it’s not enough to mass-produce content; quality and originality matter more to Google and clients.

  "Everybody has access to ChatGPT...so if you are just looking to create volume on a blog, you may as well not be blogging at all." – Annemie (A, 25:26)

• The Blog Builder Tool:
  • Users complete a detailed profile (60–90 minutes) covering brand voice, writing samples, audience, etc.
  • Choose (or create) a blog topic from AI-scraped suggestions in various photography niches.
  • Provide short stories and recommendations for further customization.
  • AI builds a draft with SEO optimization and formatting (A, 28:40).
• Output is often nearly ready to publish, but further minor edits and photo selection are common.
• The finalization stage includes a custom GPT for alt text generation and last-minute tweaks (A, 30:45).

  “Chances are you’re going to want to do some additional work after the fact…10 minutes of adjustments versus the whole day...” – Annemie (A, 33:14)

5. Repurposing Content & The True Role of AI

• The value comes from combining human expertise (stories, recommendations) with AI’s speed and formatting prowess.
• Repurposing Principle: High-value, long-form content (like a blog or podcast) can fuel email, social, and more—AI makes this easier (B, 19:53).
• AI speeds up formerly labor-intensive tasks, but quality originates from the user’s own input.

6. AI and the Creative Workforce: Disruption or Opportunity?

• Concerns about AI replacing creative professionals are addressed candidly.
  • AI is a tool; professional copywriters, for example, might shift toward higher-value, more creative assignments, rather than formulaic blogs (A, 36:58).

  “My feeling is...they are professional writers. I want them to focus on the things that are, I think, in general, obviously there’s a messy middle...It is the direction that things are moving.” – Annemie (A, 37:15)

• Even with advanced AI, the need for human review and connection remains.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the temptation to shortcut creativity with AI:

  "It's way too easy to be like, here are some photos that I want to share in a blog post...take it away, chat. And then you end up with garbage." – Annemie (A, 12:26)

• On the process required for high-quality AI output:

  "To get consistently good output from an AI tool, there is so much work that goes in to the front end." – Annemie (A, 08:37)

• On AI’s role in content creation:

  "AI is great at recycling what's out there...but if you give it more of you, it doesn't seem like it's just giving you everybody else's garbage." – Annemie (A, 40:55)

• On how fast things now get done:

  “An entire day down to maybe one hour...You can actually put out more content, which will help Google see you as an expert.” – Colie (B, 36:37)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Intro to the episode and topic | | 05:36 | “I’m good at ChatGPT, can’t I do this myself?” | | 06:23 | Annemie’s first experience blogging w/ AI | | 09:26 | Importance of knowledge files in AI tools | | 12:20 | Why intention and process matter in AI output | | 15:56 | What is Consistency Club? | | 18:52 | How members use AI for emails/social/blogs | | 21:13 | Blogging as the core long-form content for photogs| | 25:12 | Rising standards for AI-generated content | | 28:40 | Step-by-step of the Blog Builder tool | | 31:57 | Human review: AI output as ready-made first draft| | 36:54 | Positioning: Customized and fast solutions | | 38:41 | AI & the creative job landscape | | 41:07 | Launch details for the new Blog Builder tool |

Summary Flow

• The episode begins by framing the necessity and possibilities of AI in creative businesses (00:00–04:45).
• Colie and Annemie reflect on their initial, sometimes frustrating experiences with AI (06:23–09:26).
• A nuanced back-and-forth highlights the work required to build AI tools that truly help creatives—not just generic outputs (09:26–13:11).
• Annemie details her process and motivation for developing an AI-powered blogging tool inside Consistency Club, including obstacles, intention, and collaboration with experts (14:50–19:53).
• Both host and guest share personal philosophies on the future of creative work, the irreplaceable role of human touch, and hopes for technology to enable deeper, more meaningful contributions (36:54–40:39).
• The episode closes with practical information on how to access and try the new Blog Builder tool (41:07 onward).

Action for Listeners: Annemie invites photographers to join the Consistency Club and try the Blog Builder tool, emphasizing the practical, “done-with-you” approach that keeps the artist’s voice at the center of their marketing.

Tone: Informal, energizing, thoughtful, supportive—full of real talk, actionable advice, and encouragement for embracing new tech without fear.