How I use AI: A personal look

For a long time, I hated AI.
Not the machines themselves, but the idea of it. It freaked me out.

I fell into that very human trap—fearing what I didn’t understand. It seemed cold, mechanical, and like it might replace everything I love about being a creator. I spent a good chunk of time hating on AI and even judging people who used it.

But over time, something changed.

From Fear to Curiosity

AI isn’t a replacement.
It’s a tool.

A powerful one, sure. A weird one, definitely. But it’s shaping the world whether I like it or not, and pretending it doesn't exist doesn’t stop that. So I figured I’d try it.

At first, I wasn't impressed.
The tools felt clunky, and I moved on.

But now? I use it regularly—for editing documents, for cleaning up my own messy writing, for sparking ideas. One thing I love is being able to just let it all out—write a messy draft, and have AI shape it into something legible. It fixes my grammar, breaks things into paragraphs, and basically helps me get out of my own way.

Yeah... It Still Scares Me

Let’s be honest—AI is still kind of terrifying.

I still think about The Terminator and iRobot.
I mean, those stories exist for a reason. They’re not entirely unrealistic.

But right now, AI is just a tool.
Maybe the most advanced one we’ve ever built.
And while it may evolve into something far bigger, right now it’s still something I can pick up and use—just like a pencil or a paintbrush.

Using AI to Learn Code (Even When I Don’t Understand It)

Most of the time, I’m using ChatGPT to help me learn code. I’m self-taught—and not exactly fluent in the language of semicolons and logic loops yet. But I’ve figured out how to read code, how to edit it, and how to ask for help when I’m stuck.

I’ll describe what I want, and ChatGPT writes some code. I take that into Visual Studio Code, tweak it, rewrite parts, change the styling, and make it fit my needs.

Sometimes I’ll even tell the AI to explain things in a way that forces me to learn.
Not spoon-fed answers—just enough to make me think.

That’s how I grow: from the middle out.

When It Comes to Art—It’s Complicated

Now, full transparency: I’m an artist first.
And I’m not the biggest fan of AI-generated art.

I’ve experimented with it. I’ve asked AI to create logos and seen it produce something decent. But it didn’t feel mine. It felt like something a machine made. So I used that AI-generated design as inspiration—and then I drew my own.

The original was a bunny outline with a pixelated vibe. I simplified the concept, drew a bear paw, cleaned it up in Photoshop, and turned that into the logo you now see on my site.

Is it perfect?
Not at all.
But I made it myself—and that means something.

Writing With a Digital Editor

My writing process is messy. I “word vomit” all over the page—then feed that mess into AI to clean it up. The thoughts are mine. The structure and polish? That’s where AI comes in.

And here’s the cool part: I’m getting better just by watching how it edits.
I’ve started learning better habits, picking up on patterns, and writing more clearly on my own.

Still—I’m specific. I tell it: “Fix grammar and paragraph flow, but don’t rewrite my words.” Otherwise, it can get too eager and start changing things I didn’t want touched.

The Right Way to Use AI (For Me, At Least)

Here’s the thing:
I use AI to help me code.
To clean up my writing.
To create concept art that inspires my own work.

To me, that’s the right way to use it.

If you're using AI to do all the work for you—writing your words, making your art, building entire games without truly learning—you're probably setting yourself up for problems later on.

But if you're using it to learn, to explore, and to build from your own foundation—then it’s not a crutch. It’s a scaffold.

Let it be wrong sometimes. Let it challenge you.
Take the ideas it gives you—mix them, bend them, break them—
Make them yours.

Signed,

Dylz

Burrow Bits Owner

7/25/25

Collapsible Group of the non-formatted version if your curious:

I used to hate AI. Well the idea of AI anyways. It scared me. You see I fell into that trap of fearing what I do not understand. I perfectly normal human reaction that is. I spent alot of time hating it and hating on people who used AI. These days however I have learned that AI isn't a replacement. It's a tool. It definitely something that is changing the world and how many view it. I for one realized that there is no way to stop the progression of it. So I figured I would see what its all about. When I first started using it I realized it wasn't that good and forgot about it really. Now I use it whenever I need documents edited or my own writings edited for grammar. One thing I love to do is just let the ideas flow. With AI I could type out a story with all the grammatical errors and have AI format it into paragraphs and fix the words I mispelled. Does AI still scare me? Yes absolutely. Has me think about the movie "The Terminator" or that other movie "iRobot". These are semi real possibilities when it comes to AI. However AI is a tool at the moment and quite possible will become the most advanced computing tool to ever be created. Maybe not now but definitely in the future it will be. So with all that being said I figured I would use it as such. A tool. What do I mean by this?

I am mainly using chat gpt for code. I am teaching myself how to code and have been fora while and frankly I am not good at it. I have learned how to read code and edit the code. I don't fully understand sometimes but that's part of the process for me. I ask chatgpt that I want some code and exactly what I want it to do and how to do it. I makes the code and I paste that into visual studio code and begin making changes to the code. Often ill think of another way of doing stuff and taking code snippets I'll put them into the code and change out parts. Ill change the styling and spacing to suite my own needs. For me it works but I also tell the AI to purposely give me code in a way that i have to learn it or atleast sorta understand what its doing. Learning from the middle out so to speak.

AI has alot tools to help you with what you are doing. Some of those tools I don't agree with. Perhaps its because I am an artist first. ( Yes I made my own Logo) But I know I really am not fond of AI art generation. I have however learned to work with the idea of it. For instance I asked AI to make me a logo. It did and made one I actually like after some photoshoping. However I wasn't happy that the base of the art came from the AI. So I decided to draw my own. The original was a bunny line drawing with a pixel effect. I decided to simplify that concept and drew my own bear paw and then take that into photoshop to add the pixel blocks and clean it up. That is the logo you see on the site. Is it a great logo? Absolutely not but I 100% made it myself and Im proud of that.

Writing i do all myself as well. I mostly just word vomit a story or blog post or something similar and then have AI edit it so it actually makes sense. I of course am getting better at this on my own just by seeing how AI is changing my own work. Usually you have to be specific about not changing your words but just doing basic grammatical errors and formatting paragraphs. Otherwise it will sometimes change or add more words.

So in essence I use AI to help me code, to edit my own words, and to generate concept art to help me come up with my own art and ideas. This I feel is the correct way to use AI. If you are using it to write your words and make your art and to create entire games slapped together with hopes and dreams then you will run into some issues down the line.

Using AI as a tool to learn and yes that means it being wrong sometimes and you having to figure that out yourself or just to help you come up with ideas isn't such a bad thing. By this I mean don't take the idea it gives you and run with it. Use those ideas and mix and match and combine them to trully make something uniquely yours.

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