Artist Makers and Creator Makers - and AI

I recently read an interesting thought about the difference between artist makers and creator makers (I believe it was from Scott Belsky's Implications).

For the modern archetype of creator the main goals typically have more to do with scale and reach. They will leverage tools in ways that help them accelerate outputs, even if it comes with certain compromises in terms of control. If it helps get a process done quicker, even if the output may not be 100% what they envisioned, that is fine. They launch or publish things quickly and if the tool helps them get there, that's what matters. For this archetype vibe-coding and many other generative AI tools are reasonable additions to their tool belt. They enhance speed with compromises in regards to control and quality.

For the artist creator the work is often much more centered around specific visions. They know what they want. Yes, they may experiment, but they have a clear goalpost they aim for. They will leverage tools that help them produce outputs faster, but want a much greater level of control and have a much lower tolerance for compromise when it comes to quality or how well something matches their vision. For this archetype, many AI tools may serve as early ideation partners or to explore larger quantities of rough drafts. But they may find a lot of tools inadequate to generate outputs and manipulate them with the necessary level of precision.

Of course there are advances here and things like context engineering, MCP, and some tools introducing features for precise feedback mechanisms (like selecting individual pieces in a generated visual and working on it at a more detailed level). But at a high level, this may also point to underlying reasons for different levels of speed and willingness to adopt AI tools.

We often talk about certain functions in an organization being strongly incentivized to increase the quantity of outputs - more widgets generated and faster. For them, adopting AI seems obvious. "Can't you just vibe code it?"

For others, who measure the success of their work by standards like excellence in craft or best practices, this focus on speed and good enough may not be a desirable value proposition.