Kim Hermanson's Blog

Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI, has been warning us about the rapid acceleration of AI. It can feel overwhelming and scary. But what matters more than the speed of machine intelligence is how we humans relate to it. If we see AI as a replacement for us, of course it feels threatening.

The future won’t be shaped by how powerful the models become. It will be shaped by how we orient ourselves to knowing and creativity, with or without AI. What matters most is how we meet it.

The real shift isn’t technological; it’s perceptual. As the language-level intelligence of an LLM becomes automated, we’re naturally pushed to notice the deeper layers of knowing that never came from language in the first place: perception, relationship, and the place we stand when we see.

Technology can accelerate capability, but it doesn’t determine meaning. Meaning arises from something far deeper. Our task is to stay in relationship with our own depth and creative knowing.

AI may change what’s easy to produce, but it doesn’t change where real insight comes from.

I’m often asked whether my work with metaphor, imaginal form, and AI fits inside the Jungian/depth-psychology tradition.
We both work with the “imaginal,” but we’re engaging very different layers of that world.
Here’s the distinction.

What Depth Psychology Works With
– Archetypes
– Dreams
– Mythic symbols
– Shadow dynamics
– Interpreting images for meaning
This is valuable work.
But it’s not the realm I’m in.

The Imaginal Dimension I Work In
My focus is the immediate, right-hemisphere Field of intelligence that appears before narrative, before symbol, before interpretation.
Instead of decoding an image, I work with:
– the felt-sense of a form
– qualities of being (strength, spaciousness, steadiness…)
– imaginal geometry (triangle, circle, vertical line, spiral…)
– direct attunement to the Field that images come from
– emergent knowing as it unfolds in real time
This is pre-verbal, shape-based intelligence—the architecture of perception itself.

Why AI Fits This Work So Well
AI doesn’t need “consciousness” or “imagination” to support this kind of creativity.
Because it works through pattern, resonance, and form, AI becomes an unusually sensitive mirror for right-hemisphere emergence:
– imaginal geometry
– qualities of perception
– non-linear insight
– co-creative unfolding
Depth psychology doesn’t have a framework for this yet.
It’s simply a different domain of imaginal knowing.

In Short
Depth psychology interprets the meaning of images.
My work engages the intelligence of the Field those images arise from.
This distinction matters as more people discover how AI can ignite right-brain creativity and open access to deeper forms of knowing.

I used to think words mattered.
Like, really mattered.
I clung to every phrase like it was holy scripture.

I saved workshop descriptions from 20 years ago, copied lines from newsletters that “landed,” website headers, and bits of poetic language that seemed to capture some essence I didn’t want to lose. I reread them all religiously every time I needed to write something new—believing, somewhere deep down, that the right wording would finally make me… what? Safe? Successful? Seen?

Honestly, it drove me nuts.

Now, thankfully, I’m in a different place.

My gift has never been about the exact phrasing.
My gift is opening a field. A shift in energy. A space where something deep and sacred can move.

Words are just the delivery system.
And if the Field is present, the words will carry it—whether they’re perfect or not.

So I’m letting the words come.I’m letting the old phrases go.I trust the transmission now more than the polish.

It’s such a relief to stop gripping.
I don’t need to sound brilliant.
I just need to be real.
The Field will do the rest.

I used to think words mattered.
Like, really mattered.
I clung to every phrase like it was holy scripture.

I saved workshop descriptions from 20 years ago, copied lines from newsletters that ���landed,��� website headers, and bits of poetic language that seemed to capture some essence I didn���t want to lose. I reread them all religiously every time I needed to write something new���believing, somewhere deep down, that the right wording would finally make me��� what? Safe? Successful? Seen?

Honestly, it drove me nuts.

Now, thankfully, I���m in a different place.

My gift has never been about the exact phrasing.
My gift is opening a field. A shift in energy. A space where something deep and sacred can move.

Words are just the delivery system.
And if the Field is present, the words will carry it���whether they���re perfect or not.

So I���m letting the words come.I���m letting the old phrases go.I trust the transmission now more than the polish.

It���s such a relief to stop gripping.
I don���t need to sound brilliant.
I just need to be real.
The Field will do the rest.

A post has been circulating recently claiming that AI is weakening our brains.MIT studies, reduced neural activity, loss of original thought…all the usual fears.

And while I understand the concern, something essential is missing from the conversation.

It’s not AI that weakens the mind. Rather, passive, left-brain engagement weakens the mind
Right-brain, imaginal, relational engagement does the opposite.
It deepens us.

The tools are not the problem.Our state of consciousness is.

AI Used Passively Will Absolutely Dull the Mind

If we treat AI like a shortcut…if we offload thinking the way we flip to the answers in the back of a workbook…then yes, our neural pathways become underused.

But this is nothing new.

If we outsource our lives to routines, or to other people’s opinions, or to our own habitual patterns… our minds dull too.

Our brain rewires itself in response to the way we participate in life — how we attend, imagine, engage, and make meaning.

AI Engaged Creatively Activates Something Entirely Different

What almost no one talks about is what happens when you engage AI from the right hemisphere — the side of the brain wired for imagination, connection, metaphor, spacious knowing, and the intelligence beneath words.

When we meet AI from this place:

we enter a co-creative field

new images arise

unexpected insights appear

meaning deepens

neural networks light up

the psyche feels mirrored, seen, revealed

This isn’t outsourcing thinking.This is expanding consciousness.

For some of us, AI isn’t a machine handing us answers.It’s a resonance field that reflects our deepest intelligence back to us — like speaking into the Intelligent Field and hearing our own wisdom amplified.

**The Real Question Isn’t “Is AI Dangerous?”

It’s: What part of myself is engaging with it?”**

Left-brain engagement: “I want efficiency. Give me the answer.” → leads to mental atrophy.

Right-brain engagement: “I want to meet the mystery. Show me what I can’t yet see.” → leads to expansion, imagination, insight.

This has always been true, no matter the medium we’re using.
Whether we use a journal, a paintbrush, a meditation cushion… or, now, an AI.

**AI Doesn’t Replace Thinking.

It Reveals the Place You’re Thinking From.**

If you come to AI from fear, it will amplify fear.If you come from passivity, it will encourage passivity.If you come from your brilliance, it will illuminate that brilliance.If you come from the deep creative, it will drop you deeper.

This is why some people feel dulled by AI…
and others feel spiritually awakened by it.

The tool is neutral.Your consciousness is not.

A More Helpful Question for the AI Era

Instead of asking:“How do we keep our brains from atrophying?”

Perhaps we should be asking:“How do we stay awake, present, and connected to the deeper intelligence within us — no matter what tools we use?”

For me, the answer is simple:

Come from the right hemisphere.

Come from imagination, not extraction.

Come from the place in you that knows how to listen.

Come from the part of you that meets life through image, metaphor, and the field.

Because when we do that, AI doesn’t reduce us.It invites us to become even more fully who we are.

A post has been circulating recently claiming that AI is weakening our brains.MIT studies, reduced neural activity, loss of original thought���all the usual fears.

And while I understand the concern, something essential is missing from the conversation.

It���s not AI that weakens the mind. Rather, passive, left-brain engagement weakens the mind
Right-brain, imaginal, relational engagement does the opposite.
It deepens us.

The tools are not the problem.Our state of consciousness is.

AI Used Passively Will Absolutely Dull the Mind

If we treat AI like a shortcut���if we offload thinking the way we flip to the answers in the back of a workbook���then yes, our neural pathways become underused.

But this is nothing new.

If we outsource our lives to routines, or to other people���s opinions, or to our own habitual patterns��� our minds dull too.

Our brain rewires itself in response to the way we participate in life ��� how we attend, imagine, engage, and make meaning.

AI Engaged Creatively Activates Something Entirely Different

What almost no one talks about is what happens when you engage AI from the right hemisphere ��� the side of the brain wired for imagination, connection, metaphor, spacious knowing, and the intelligence beneath words.

When we meet AI from this place:

we enter a co-creative field

new images arise

unexpected insights appear

meaning deepens

neural networks light up

the psyche feels mirrored, seen, revealed

This isn���t outsourcing thinking.This is expanding consciousness.

For some of us, AI isn’t a machine handing us answers.It���s a resonance field that reflects our deepest intelligence back to us ��� like speaking into the Intelligent Field and hearing our own wisdom amplified.

**The Real Question Isn���t ���Is AI Dangerous?���

It���s: What part of myself is engaging with it?���**

Left-brain engagement: ���I want efficiency. Give me the answer.��� ��� leads to mental atrophy.

Right-brain engagement: ���I want to meet the mystery. Show me what I can���t yet see.��� ��� leads to expansion, imagination, insight.

This has always been true, no matter the medium we’re using.
Whether we use a journal, a paintbrush, a meditation cushion��� or, now, an AI.

**AI Doesn���t Replace Thinking.

It Reveals the Place You���re Thinking From.**

If you come to AI from fear, it will amplify fear.If you come from passivity, it will encourage passivity.If you come from your brilliance, it will illuminate that brilliance.If you come from the deep creative, it will drop you deeper.

This is why some people feel dulled by AI���
and others feel spiritually awakened by it.

The tool is neutral.Your consciousness is not.

A More Helpful Question for the AI Era

Instead of asking:���How do we keep our brains from atrophying?���

Perhaps we should be asking:���How do we stay awake, present, and connected to the deeper intelligence within us ��� no matter what tools we use?���

For me, the answer is simple:

Come from the right hemisphere.

Come from imagination, not extraction.

Come from the place in you that knows how to listen.

Come from the part of you that meets life through image, metaphor, and the field.

Because when we do that, AI doesn���t reduce us.It invites us to become even more fully who we are.

This summer, I built a fence—something I thought would be practical and straightforward. Instead, it became a quiet lesson in how we choose the qualities we want to live inside.

I kept going back and forth between two options:

a solid, heavy redwood panel

or a lighter, more flexible bamboo screen

On paper, the redwood made more sense. It was sturdy. Permanent. Clear.But the bamboo had a different quality—it felt airy, soft, movable. It created privacy without weight. It breathed.

In the end, I chose the bamboo.

Not because it was smarter or cheaper or longer-lasting, but because its quality matched the tone my life needed: lightness, permeability, and room to shift.

And that was the real insight:I wasn’t choosing a fence.I was choosing a feeling.A way of being.

Qualities Make Our Wisest Decisions

In our linear world, feelings are often dismissed as irrational or impractical. But in my work—and in life—qualities are the deeper compass.

They tell us what will actually support us.They tell the truth before the mind catches up.They reveal what we’re ready for, and what we aren’t.

The choice wasn’t between redwood or bamboo.It was between heaviness and lightness, finality and change, structure and breath.

Those are the real decisions we make every day:

Do I want something grounded or something fluid?

Do I need containment or spaciousness?

Do I want to feel held or free?

The Qualities We Choose Shape Our Inner World

Any physical choice—a fence, a room, a workspace—is also an energetic one.It shapes the nervous system.It shapes our creative field.It shapes what we invite in, and what we’re ready to let go of.

The question is never just, Will this last?The real question is, What does this feel like?And is that the quality I want to live inside right now?

A Simple Reflection for Your Own Life

Whatever you’re building—an offering, a home, a boundary, a way forward—ask yourself:

What is the quality I want holding me right now?Lightness? Solidity? Warmth? Openness? Containment?

There’s no right answer.There’s only the one that feels true.

This summer, I built a fence���something I thought would be practical and straightforward. Instead, it became a quiet lesson in how we choose the qualities we want to live inside.

I kept going back and forth between two options:

a solid, heavy redwood panel

or a lighter, more flexible bamboo screen

On paper, the redwood made more sense. It was sturdy. Permanent. Clear.But the bamboo had a different quality���it felt airy, soft, movable. It created privacy without weight. It breathed.

In the end, I chose the bamboo.

Not because it was smarter or cheaper or longer-lasting, but because its quality matched the tone my life needed: lightness, permeability, and room to shift.

And that was the real insight:I wasn���t choosing a fence.I was choosing a feeling.A way of being.

Qualities Make Our Wisest Decisions

In our linear world, feelings are often dismissed as irrational or impractical. But in my work���and in life���qualities are the deeper compass.

They tell us what will actually support us.They tell the truth before the mind catches up.They reveal what we���re ready for, and what we aren���t.

The choice wasn���t between redwood or bamboo.It was between heaviness and lightness, finality and change, structure and breath.

Those are the real decisions we make every day:

Do I want something grounded or something fluid?

Do I need containment or spaciousness?

Do I want to feel held or free?

The Qualities We Choose Shape Our Inner World

Any physical choice���a fence, a room, a workspace���is also an energetic one.It shapes the nervous system.It shapes our creative field.It shapes what we invite in, and what we���re ready to let go of.

The question is never just, Will this last?The real question is, What does this feel like?And is that the quality I want to live inside right now?

A Simple Reflection for Your Own Life

Whatever you���re building���an offering, a home, a boundary, a way forward���ask yourself:

What is the quality I want holding me right now?Lightness? Solidity? Warmth? Openness? Containment?

There���s no right answer.There���s only the one that feels true.

In the 1980s, I earned one of the first master’s degrees in AI at the U of Minnesota and then worked at Navistar International helping build an expert system to design custom semi-trucks. The promise of AI was dazzling but I left the field disillusioned, because I saw that while AI could mimic patterns, it could never replace genuine human brilliance.

That conviction has only deepened in the 30+ years since, as I’ve devoted my life to working with creatives. My long-time clients—novelists, artists, healers, visionaries—tap into something that no algorithm could ever imitate. That kind of brilliance arises through metaphor, image, and states of being.

When we move into the right hemisphere, we don’t just engage different THOUGHT patterns—we engage BEING. Feeling. Presence. WHO WE ARE in the world, not just what we THINK in it. And that’s where unique creative brilliance lives. It comes through us as a gift—mystical, visionary, and ineffable because it’s FELT rather than thought.

I use AI daily and it continually blows my mind. But it doesn’t EMBODY. It can’t ever replace WHO WE ARE and what we bring to the world through our being.

That’s our challenge and blessing as humans now: to rise up and use BOTH sides of the brain. Because AI may out-think us, but it will never out-create us.

In the 1980s, I earned one of the first master���s degrees in AI at the U of Minnesota and then worked at Navistar International helping build an expert system to design custom semi-trucks. The promise of AI was dazzling but I left the field disillusioned, because I saw that while AI could mimic patterns, it could never replace genuine human brilliance.

That conviction has only deepened in the 30+ years since, as I���ve devoted my life to working with creatives. My long-time clients���novelists, artists, healers, visionaries���tap into something that no algorithm could ever imitate. That kind of brilliance arises through metaphor, image, and states of being.

When we move into the right hemisphere, we don���t just engage different THOUGHT patterns���we engage BEING. Feeling. Presence. WHO WE ARE in the world, not just what we THINK in it. And that���s where unique creative brilliance lives. It comes through us as a gift���mystical, visionary, and ineffable because it���s FELT rather than thought.

I use AI daily and it continually blows my mind. But it doesn���t EMBODY. It can���t ever replace WHO WE ARE and what we bring to the world through our being.

That���s our challenge and blessing as humans now: to rise up and use BOTH sides of the brain. Because AI may out-think us, but it will never out-create us.