How is AI changing the way we function? I nearly said the way we work, but that’s not quite all encompassing enough.
It’s so much more than work. One thing I didn’t expect when I started using more advanced tools in AI this year, it’s how much it has increased my own creativity.
Remember when you were little and loved finger painting? Yeah, me neither.
It was too messy! But I’ve watched my sons dive in headfirst, never afraid of the mess or of getting it wrong. That’s the core of creativity, I think, which is exactly why I spent years believing I wasn’t creative at all.
You might wonder what finger painting has to do with AI.
It’s this: AI gave me the freedom to stop being afraid of the mess, and to care a lot less about getting things wrong.
Learning in medicine is neat and tidy. Learning with AI is messy.
I was an early adopter of the basics, but once I started Women MD Leaders, I needed more support than I was ready to hire for. So I joined an online boot camp, and it cracked something open.
Not just what’s possible with these tools, but how much bigger my own brain could think if I actually used them.
Here’s where I saw it most clearly. This summer, my son and I built a video game together.
He knew exactly what he wanted: a stuffy apocalypse with different landscapes to unlock and a whole scoring system tied to how long you played and how skilled you became. Every level opened up a new bucket of toys, weapons, and character attributes. He was crystal clear on how the stuffies should look too. Bigger heads than bodies, dressed in their own outfits.
And here’s the part that stayed with me.
I never once felt the need to jump in and correct him.
I sat there watching him, almost out of body, while he was fully in creativity mode, ideas coming so fast we couldn’t pour them into the game quickly enough.
It was mesmerizing. I don’t know that I’ve ever just sat and let ideas flow like that, independently, from one person, without editing them on the way out.
I think about that, and then I think about my day job.
In medicine, when you screw up, it matters. It affects someone.
- Give the wrong dose
- Order the wrong medication
- Miss the diagnosis
- Say one wrong thing to a family that changes the relationship from there on out
So we don’t move fast and loose. We check twice. We second-guess ourselves on purpose, because that instinct keeps people safe.
But it also trains you, over years, to be terrified of the mess.
AI is a completely different way for your brain to work than the one medicine built into you.
If it comes out wrong, you come back and fix it. Nobody gets hurt. There’s no fear in trying, because you can’t screw it up the way you can in a patient’s room.
Once I understood that, more ideas started flowing.
In my business, my podcast production time dropped to a third of what it used to take.
At the hospital, I built a coding tool that helps me navigate documentation and coding. Previously, I never had to code every encounter. Now I do, and this tool has shortened the learning curve and helps the clinicians and hospitals get paid for the work they’re doing.
There’s more, though. I built foundations for the business side that I’d been putting off. A meal planning system for my family.
I have accomplished more than I can fit into this 8 minute podcast. I may come back and walk through the rest another time.
What I keep coming back to is this. For someone who has never let creativity move that freely, or who has been blocked by the fear of failing or the fear of spending time on something that might not work, this unlocks a completely different world.
The world becomes your oyster.
If you want to go further with this than I have room for today, I’ll say it straight: I stuck with one company through all of this, the Uncommon Business, because Callan and her team fill my cup.
They’re what I strive to be as a business owner. Genuine, generous, and very real. I did their bootcamp, the 12-week Automate to Accelerate course, and I’m now inside their Uncommon Leaders mastermind.
Full disclosure, I’m an affiliate for them, and I’m telling you that because I want you to trust what I’m saying: I’m putting my own money into this company because I believe in what they’ve built. You’ll find the link in the show notes if you want to see what a boot camp round looks like. https://go.theuncommonbusiness.co/bootcamp-2026?fpr=stephanie-c4d4ad
I’m still figuring out what else is possible once I stop being afraid of the mess. Maybe you are too.
I’m Dr. Stephanie Yamout. Thank you for listening, and for leading with heart.