The Question Isn’t Whether AI Will Replace Creativity, It’s How It Will Expand It
Wed Jan 21 2026
A CEO’s take on AI and the future of content creation
You’ve probably scrolled past it without realizing it. A song on your feed that sounds human—but isn’t. An influencer landing brand deals—who doesn’t exist. And suddenly, the creative world feels split on how this is set to impact the creator industry.
In this episode of Brains Byte Back, Erick Espinosa sits down with Shahrzad Rafati, Founder and CEO of RHEI, to discuss how AI is influencing the creator economy. Will the evolutionary technology scale creativity, or stifle it?
Instead of focusing on fear-driven headlines about fake artists and synthetic stars, this conversation zooms out, looking at AI as an assistive tool, similar to other industries. It looks at what creators are actually struggling with today, including burnout, overload, and the endless work that gets in the way of making meaningful things.
Shahrzad discuss why time is the real constraint for creators, how AI tools, like RHEI, can act more like a behind-the-scenes teammate, and why we need to retire the cynical misconception that AI replaces creativity. Instead, emphasizing the importance of focusing on human signals.
Because while AI can flood the world with saturated content and shape what people see, culture is still defined by human intent, authorship, and genuine human connection.
Find out more about Shahrzad Rafati here.
Learn more about RHEI here.
Reach out to today's host, Erick Espinosa - erick@sociable.co
Get the latest on tech news - https://sociable.co/
Leave an iTunes review - https://rb.gy/ampk26
Follow us on your favourite podcast platform - https://link.chtbl.com/rN3x4ecY
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A CEO’s take on AI and the future of content creation You’ve probably scrolled past it without realizing it. A song on your feed that sounds human—but isn’t. An influencer landing brand deals—who doesn’t exist. And suddenly, the creative world feels split on how this is set to impact the creator industry. In this episode of Brains Byte Back, Erick Espinosa sits down with Shahrzad Rafati, Founder and CEO of RHEI, to discuss how AI is influencing the creator economy. Will the evolutionary technology scale creativity, or stifle it? Instead of focusing on fear-driven headlines about fake artists and synthetic stars, this conversation zooms out, looking at AI as an assistive tool, similar to other industries. It looks at what creators are actually struggling with today, including burnout, overload, and the endless work that gets in the way of making meaningful things. Shahrzad discuss why time is the real constraint for creators, how AI tools, like RHEI, can act more like a behind-the-scenes teammate, and why we need to retire the cynical misconception that AI replaces creativity. Instead, emphasizing the importance of focusing on human signals. Because while AI can flood the world with saturated content and shape what people see, culture is still defined by human intent, authorship, and genuine human connection. Find out more about Shahrzad Rafati here. Learn more about RHEI here. Reach out to today's host, Erick Espinosa - erick@sociable.co Get the latest on tech news - https://sociable.co/ Leave an iTunes review - https://rb.gy/ampk26 Follow us on your favourite podcast platform - https://link.chtbl.com/rN3x4ecY