How Creativity Helps You Stand Out in an AI-Driven “Been-There-Done-That” World

In a world where AI can out-analyze almost anything, your real edge is what it can’t imitate: your uniquely human way of thinking and creating.

From Knowledge Power to Human Power

The tide is quickly turning from the days when the most sought-after skills were based on what you know. Students were pushed toward STEM tracks, digesting the ‘what’ and ‘how’ in engineering/medical/law schools.  And then employees who knew how to code or architect or fix a complex network - more often than not commanded a premium value over those with the human skills: the marketers, the sellers, the go to market professionals, the communicators.

Now I don’t want to undermine the brilliance of those who have the mathematical minds, the technologists, the neurosurgeons.  I can only account for 1001 times when these smart people have saved a customer or patient from disaster, or have solved some of the world’s most complex problems.

The AI Investment Boom

And yet, today we live and work in a world in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay, and the tide may be shifting toward skillsets at work that were once undervalued. 

According to recent reporting, the investment in building new data centers has surpassed consumer spending in its contribution to economic growth:

According to analyses by Renaissance Macro Research, J.P. Morgan Chase, and economist Jason Furman, investment in AI data centers contributed more to US GDP growth in the first half of 2025 than consumer spending. ~ FORTUNE, 10/25

When Machines Replace Humans

We work in a world in which we see large companies replacing humans with machines for jobs that involve data and information. Perhaps if you’re reading this, you have been impacted. A few recent examples:

• Salesforce has cut about 4,000 customer service roles as AI agents step in to do their work. 

• Amazon said it will reduce its workforce by about 14,000 people, with more cuts expected, driven in part by adoption of AI

• IBM, Klarna, Duolingo, Cisco, UPS, Dropbox, and others are reshuffling the way they do certain parts of their businesses, eliminating data-intensive roles that aremore efficiently addressed by AI

And it’s only the start.

Not to Be a Downer - There Really Is an Upside

Not to be a downer. 

There really is an upside.

I have long-believed it’s important for businesses to make time to deeply consider the human-only skills and strengths required to deliver business in excellence. 

And today more than ever, I believe these skills are EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT, if not MORE IMPORTANT FOR THE HUMAN WORKFORCE than the value of knowledge prowess when it comes to a human outpacing a machine in the job market.

The Human-Only Skill Set

What are some of those human-only skills:

• Creativity

• Innovation

• Critical Thinking

• Emotional Intelligence

• Collaboration

What about these skills actually differentiates YOU from a machine?

Why AI Is Still ‘Been There, Done That’

Quite simply, AI can only draw its conclusions from what already exists.  If there is data in the world on a topic (and this can be presented in many ways - text, visual/video, sound), the AI machine can mine and synthesize it exponentially faster than any human. And that’s certainly valuable to business!

But you see, this is merely a faster form of ‘been there, done that’.  Whether it’s being used by an individual, a company, or a country, it will not differentiate from what’s already been done before. 

It’s not creating any new solution. It’s not innovating on a new product. It’s not thinking critically though a challenge to come up with a case-specific solution for a major customer, and it’s not building a human connection with a customer, patient, or team member.

Whether you’re in tech, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, the arts, or another industry, it’s easy to understand the need for these attributes in addition to the more-efficient, more knowledge rich AI.

For the sake of this note, I’d like to draw an example from my past to illustrate the value of developing these purely human attributes.

A Real-World Story from Global Tech

There was a time about 25 years ago when I was part of a great team in the world of global infrastructure technology. This team had set out to reinvent the way storage networks were architected. It was complex technology, especially at the beginning, because it required a paradigm shift in the way customers would think and implement networks.

Now this was an established industry, but we were taking it to the next level - in hot pursuit to take this business from $0 to $1B in 3 years (25 years ago that was a big deal).

The largest and most mission-critical companies in the world were relatively set in their ways using 1st-generation storage networks, and we had an important task when it came to educating them on why to make a challenging switch to something new.

Now, on this team we had great sellers who were masters at selling and managing relationships, but perhaps not always masterful with the deep and broad technical knowledge on this innovative product. 

Conversely, our Systems Engineers had a lot of technical knowledge, but were not always masters at building that emotional connection to each customer and every scenario.

The TMEs Who Moved Markets

We also had a small group of TMEs: Technical Marketing Engineers. And three of them were extra SPECIAL. These pros knew the technology inside out (knowledge and how to do stuff), AND they ALSO had an amazingly engaging way of listening to understand, connecting, and ‘dancing’ with each customer to creatively solve their problems. They MOVED people. They actively employed BEING PRESENT IN THE MOMENT in each unique situation.

They had the knowledge.  But they ALSO delivered creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and human connection.  And that’s what made them unique.

And as a result, they were sought after and overbooked 100% of the time because customers trusted them and knew that if one of these 3 TMEs were in a discussion, there would always be personalized value and connection.

The contributions of three TMEs played a significant role in taking that business to $1B, becoming the market leader in just 3 years.

Why the Human Element Makes You Memorable

My point is: it’s that HUMAN element over and above the knowledge that makes YOU memorable (individual, company, country).

Your Turn: Reflect on Your Human Edge

So ask yourself these questions (I recommend blocking some time and writing down your reflections):

• In what ways do I bring each of these strengths to my team, my patients, my company, my world: creativity, innovation, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, collaboration?

• How can I sharpen my uniquely human skills and deliver value to my team, my patient, my company, my world?

Because in this fast-growing world of AI, it’s the strength of your human skills that will keep you off the replaceable list and firmly on the must-keep list.

This article was originally written for LinkedIn and then transcribed to share on my website. ~ Alison