Where Does Your AHA! Moment Live?

When does AI make imposter syndrome worsen or lessen?

Last week, Nina (our lovely designer for this very newsletter), and I were discussing how ChatGPT can either amplify or squash our impostor syndrome. Impostor syndrome is the nagging feeling that you don't deserve your success and might be exposed as a fraud at any moment.

"I don't deserve this role." "Everyone's going to discover I'm a fraud." "I just got lucky."

For myself, I've found AI tools to be great at overcoming this insecurity. I take pride in my ideas and often my insecurity lies in the execution. I may have the idea to send an email or an essay’s topic, but my self-doubt emerges in the delivery. Gen AI has helped me realize my vision by executing tasks I know how to do but lack the confidence to complete. My moment of validation happens before I even open the chat box. The output is simply an outcome of my direction and intention. Hence, I feel no insecurity.

Nina felt otherwise. For her, the breakthrough comes while doing the work. She takes pride in the process itself, and using Gen AI and submitting its output robs her of the satisfaction and sense of ownership that is the antidote to impostor syndrome. Instead of feeling accomplished from completing a task, she experiences a quiet guilt that what she produced isn't truly "hers." She almost feels like a middle person, a conduit for the AI, using her merely to submit something it created.

The difference in perspective comes down to where we locate our creative identity.

If your sense of accomplishment comes from generating ideas and seeing them executed, AI becomes a confidence bridge. If your self-worth is tied to the struggle and discovery within the process itself, AI can feel like it's stealing the very moments that validate your skills. As these tools become more integrated into our workflows, perhaps the most important question isn't whether to use them but understanding exactly where in your creative journey your sense of authenticity lives—and making sure AI enhances rather than replaces those moments of genuine connection to your work.

Karan Parangnat + Nina Ziaei
Edited with Claude 3.7 Sonnet

Feb 2025