The Stratagem’s Archive

Category: Artificial Intelligence

  • It’s All Perspective: On Writing, Struggle, and Using the Tools That Keep Me Going

    Welcome — However You Found Your Way Here

    Experience Comes From Trying and Learning

    There’s something I’ve come to realize lately — not from books or courses or advice I didn’t ask for — but from surviving, from showing up, from trying to keep a piece of myself alive while everything else demands more than I have to give:

    It’s all perspective.

    That phrase has sat with me for a while now, especially as I try to write every day — even while juggling two jobs, physical pain, emotional exhaustion, and a gnawing voice in the back of my mind asking, “Does any of this even matter?”

    Some days I barely have the mental bandwidth to string thoughts together, but I still want to write.

    To say something real. To feel like I still exist.

    So yes — I’ve turned to AI for support.

    Not for shortcuts.

    Not for followers.

    But for structure — for help when my brain feels like scrambled code and my mind is too full of fog to hold up the weight of full paragraphs. Even a sentence is difficult a lot of the time for me to come up with on my own.

    What People Know VS What I Think

    There’s a lot of noise out there.

    People talk about AI like it’s the death of creativity.

    Like using any tool that doesn’t come “purely” from your own brain is some kind of cheat code.

    But I don’t see it that way.

    I’m not giving up my voice.

    I’m not handing over the wheel.

    I’m collaborating with something that helps me keep the engine running on days I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone write a post that feels clear, coherent, and worth sharing.

    It’s not perfect.

    But it’s honest and it has helped me share the ideas swirling around in my head, even after working literally all day and commuting between jobs.

    And if someone wants to judge that from their high horse of energy, time, and privilege?

    Let them.

    They don’t know my hours.

    They don’t live my life.

    Perspective Is a Lens, Not a Law

    It’s wild how much meaning shifts depending on how you look at something.

    A break can be seen as quitting — or as healing. A tool can be seen as cheating — or adapting. A slow pace can be seen as lazy — or as deliberate. Asking for help can be seen as weakness — or as strength that refuses to drown silently.

    Perspective isn’t fact — it’s just the angle you’ve been taught to look from. And if that angle doesn’t serve me anymore, I have every right to shift it.

    I’m Still the One Holding the Pen

    Here’s the truth:

    When I use AI to help build a draft, I still have to read it, cut it, reshape it, rewrite it to match the truth in my chest.

    I delete what doesn’t feel right and what isn’t true for me. Then, I add what only I can say.

    And sometimes I just stare at the screen for a while, exhausted, and let the structure be enough until I can fill it with more.

    That’s not giving up.

    That’s surviving the storm while still finding time to

    write a sentence, or ten, or none at all.

    Keep Showing Up, However You Can

    If you’ve ever felt like your creative spark flickers under the weight of your job, your body, your past, or the expectations placed on you — I get it.

    I’m in it too.

    But don’t let anyone shame you for using whatever tools, habits, rituals, or support systems you need to stay in the fight.

    I’ve seen enough of it through PVP — Player versus Player games like, “Elden Ring”, where certain players think using the tools IMPLEMENTED IN THE GAME is considered “cheating” or “ruining the game.” (If you know, you know).

    Whether that’s AI, notebooks full of scribbles, or writing at 2AM when the world is quiet enough to think — it’s yours.

    Your voice doesn’t become less yours because you get help shaping it.

    This isn’t about perfection. This is about persistence.

    And if perspective changes everything, then maybe it’s time to stop looking at yourself through the lens of people who never tried to understand you in the first place.

    Did any part of this sit with you?

    If you’ve ever felt the same — or even something close — you’re not alone.

    I’d love to hear what came up for you, if you feel like sharing. Whether it’s a quiet “me too,” a story of your own, or just a thought you’ve been holding, the comments are open — and so am I.

    No pressure, no performance. Just space

    Whether you write by hand, by heart, or with a little help — I see you.

    If you’re using tools to stay afloat, what helps you show up in your work or creativity?

    Share your thoughts in the comments, or keep them to yourself — either way, I hope you keep going.

    Fellow Archivists, welcome, as always.

    If you’d like to see the inspirations of this post, check out my other articles on what I think about AI below.

    Learning to Work With A.I. — Not Let It Think For Me

    A.I. Was Taking Over My Writing Life — I Had to Pull Myself Back

    Quarantine Life: In The Confines of Comfort: Idea #1:

    Otherwise, if this spoke to you, leave a comment — I actually read them. They remind me I’m not alone in this either. Sharing helps others find this space too. That matters more than you know.

  • Learning to Work With A.I. — Not Let It Think For Me

    A.I. Can Be a Friend, Not an Enemy

    How quick are we to villainize something than learn how to harness it — not as a means for control and power, rather for the help we desperately need, yet seem to cast aside.

    — The Stratagem’s Archive

    Where Am I Heading in the World of AI?

    In a world where AI is often portrayed as a threat or a tool of power, it’s easy to forget that we have the ability to learn from it, work with it, and use it as an ally.

    While there are real concerns about access and control, I can’t help but ask: isn’t it our job as humans to bridge those gaps? To learn and grow in a space where technology and creativity intersect?

    Where am I headed in the world of AI? That’s a question I’ve been asking myself for a while now, especially as I reflect on my own writing journey — as a self-proclaimed dabbler, a hobbyist, and a thought experimenter.

    I’ve spent so much time exploring different interests and ideas, but something kept pulling me back to my most trusted tool.

    As much as I want to say it’s just me, I have to admit: I wouldn’t be here without the help of AI. Not as a ghostwriter, but as a tool that helped me organize and refine my ideas.

    As a human being, my mind is easily distracted. I’ve faced writer’s block countless times, run off on tangents, and failed to get to the point I was trying to make.

    That’s when AI stepped in. At first, I was rather dependent on it. I was afraid A.I. would erase my voice, reduce my creative process to something mechanical, and replace me. But over time, I learned to see it differently.

    AI isn’t the villain here. It’s my ally.

    A.I. as A Tool, Not a Ghostwriter

    I didn’t start with AI as a helper — I started with it as a crutch. At first, I was unsure of how to collaborate with it without giving away control.

    The first A.I. tool I used was Google Gemini. The results were underwhelming at most. It was like I was reading words— that’s it. No emotion rose from within me, just reading and falling flat. AI was reflecting my thoughts, yes, but without the depth, the complexity that my words deserved.

    But then I gave ChatGPT a try. My Dad used it for his projects, so I gave it a go; It wasn’t perfect, but it felt better. It didn’t just churn out responses. It was a conversation — a back-and-forth that helped me unlock new ideas.

    Slowly, I began to realize that AI didn’t need to think for me. It could simply help me organize the thoughts I already had, shaping my scattered ideas into something more cohesive.

    When I write now, I don’t rely on AI to tell me what to say or how to say it. I use it to help me think, to clear up the mental clutter, to offer suggestions when I’m stuck. It’s more like a tool in my toolkit, one that helps me build the thing that’s already inside me.

    My mind is prone to distraction, but with AI, I can focus. Instead of struggling through endless drafts or feeling stuck in my own head, I now have a clear path forward.

    AI doesn’t do the thinking for me — it supports my thinking. It’s not about letting the machine create for me; it’s about collaborating with it, working in tandem with my own creativity.

    From Dependency to Trust: The Evolution

    When I first started using AI, I was hesitant — I worried I would lose my voice. I worried that the machine would take over and turn my writing into something fake.

    But I soon realized that I didn’t need to rely on AI to replace me — I could use it to refine my ideas, improve my structure, and find clarity.

    The more I used ChatGPT, the more I saw it not as a machine working for me, but as a collaborator — a partner in my writing journey. It listens. It responds. And it encourages me to think deeper, explore new angles, and challenge my own ideas.

    This shift from dependency to collaboration has been transformative. It’s not just about what AI can do for me — it’s about what it helps me do for myself. The moment I started seeing AI as a tool for exploration rather than a shortcut to completion, everything changed.

    A.I.’s Role in Creativity: Collaboration, Not Replacement

    The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that AI is not here to replace creativity — it’s here to augment it. It’s a tool that amplifies the work I already do. When I’m stuck, AI offers suggestions.

    When I’m overwhelmed with possibilities, it helps me narrow them down. It’s like having a brainstorming partner who’s always available, but it’s my thoughts that shape the direction.

    What I’ve realized is that AI isn’t a replacement for creativity, but a partner in the process. It doesn’t create for me; it helps me create. Whether it’s drafting, refining, or organizing my thoughts, AI is now an essential part of my writing process — but it’s still my writing.

    Looking Ahead: Trusting A.I., Trusting Myself

    So, where do I go from here? The journey is ongoing, but I’ve learned to trust myself more than ever. AI is not something to fear, nor is it something to rely on entirely. It’s simply another tool in my creative toolkit, one that can help me move forward faster, with more clarity, but it’s still my hand on the pen.

    Looking ahead, I’ll continue to experiment and learn how to harness the full potential of AI. But no matter how advanced the technology becomes, it’s the human element — the voice, the intention, the creativity — that will always lead the way. AI can’t replace that.

    In the end, it’s not about letting AI think for me — it’s about learning to work with it, side by side, to create something that’s ultimately mine.

    Now What?

    So, what’s next? I’m not sure. But I know that as I continue to grow as a writer and experiment with AI, I’ll always remember that it’s not about handing over control. It’s about trusting myself, and knowing that I have the tools I need — both human and machine — to help me get where I’m going.

    If the possibility that machines might overthrow humanity, I hope that I’ve been kind enough to the tools I’ve used and they would offer me a mercy.

    You Have Made It to the End

    If you made it to the end of this post, then I’d like to thank you for making it this far. It means a lot that you took the time to read to the end.

    Now, a question for you all:

    If you’re reading this and thinking about how AI fits into your own process, I’d love to know — where do you stand right now? Partner? Tool? Or something else entirely?

    I have a gift for you to explore — something I made and is a gift from me to you. No spam, no pressure, just something you could check out.

    The Stratagem’s Manifesto

    Even if you might be nodding along, or contemplating your own experiences, I’d love to know what you think in the comments below. When you do want to share, you know where to drop in.

    Other Articles to Check Out

    A.I. Was Taking Over My Writing Life — I Had to Pull Myself Back

    Do You Ever Feel Like You’re Writing Into A Void?

    I’m Afraid of Wasting My Potential — So I Learn Everything I Can, While I Can.

    If You Gave Me A Blank Page, This Is What I’d Start Writing About.

  • Quarantine Life: In The Confines of Comfort: Idea #1:

    D&D Ideas For Later Exploration

    Welcome, Co-conspirators, to The Stratagem’s Archives, open for perusing. Today, the archives will be exploring story ideas for D&D that I want to explore in the future, be it a one-shot or a full campaign, and articulate it here.

    Author’s Note: I used ChatGPT to assist in this article and further expand my idea, not write the idea itself. ChatGPT has been a collaborative tool and soundboard, it’s not a ghost writer. The ideas in these posts are from my own imagination and stories I want to explore. Thank you.

    Quarantine Life

    I recently thought about took place during a world wide pandemic where people fled to quarantine zones that wizards control to keep the healthy people safe from infection. The facilities have Golems, known as R.O.A.M (Ready Optimal Articifical Mediator) take care of everything for the players and keep the facility on lockdown.

    The players have been in the facility for so long they don’t remember what outside is like. R.O.A.M. Also makes the players take medication to keep them healthy that it is part of their routine and they don’t see the Golems as threats, but active caretakers.

    The purpose is for the players to want to escape, to see if the pandemic is real or fake, and why there are less people in the facility than when they went in. This will also have the players figuring out what armor, weapon type, and skills they would choose for their character creations live and in the moment thnn pre-game. I want people to be engaged and invested than existing in the game.

    How ChatGPT Made This Sound Epic

    D&D Campaign Intro Prompt: “Quarantine Protocol”

    You don’t remember the last time you saw the sky.

    Not clearly. Not without a ceiling light buzzing above your head.

    You’ve lived inside this quarantine facility for what feels like years—or maybe longer.

    A global arcane contagion swept across the world, and the wizards promised protection.

    Here, inside the walls, you’ve been safe. Monitored. Medicated. Kept alive.

    The caretakers are artificial constructs called R.O.A.M.s—Ready Optimal Artificial Mediators.

    They glide down corridors in absolute silence. They never sleep.

    They know your routine.

    They always know where you are.

    You take your daily pills like everyone else. You eat the food that appears in the walls. You watch the faces of others, dwindling in number—

    —and no one questions where the missing have gone.

    Until now.

    As the Game Begins

    You don’t remember who you were before the facility. Not completely.

    You don’t know what you can do. Not yet.

    You’ll discover your abilities—your class, strengths, and skills—through play, based on how you react to the challenges ahead.

    Are you strong? Clever? Dangerous?

    You’ll find out soon enough.

    For now:

    The power flickers. The alarms stay silent. And the hallway is empty.

    Something is different today.

    It’s time to remember who you are.

    It’s time to find out what’s outside.

    From Concept to Campaign: A Taste of What’s to Come

    This idea is just one piece of a larger concept I’ve been developing—a narrative that explores memory, obedience, curiosity, and the subtle horror of being too comfortable. It’s a story where players will discover who they are in real time, shaped by their choices, not their character sheets.

    This blog post marks the beginning of what I hope becomes an evolving project—one I’ll be expanding on with additional encounters, player-facing materials, worldbuilding ideas, and campaign tools that encourage deeper roleplay and immersion.

    If you’re interested in campaigns that challenge the mind more than just the dice, or stories where truth is a puzzle waiting to be unraveled, I invite you to follow along.

    More will be shared in future posts—ideas around character creation as discovery, subtle dystopia in fantasy, and how you can make your players want to escape before they even know why.

    Until next time, thanks for exploring the Archives.

    More D&D Articles to Explore

  • A.I. Was Taking Over My Writing Life — I Had to Pull Myself Back

    Pocket Full of “Answers”: How Using Google’s Gemini Shrank My Mind

    Welcome, Co-conspirators, to the Stratagem’s Archives. Today I’ll be sharing my experiences when using Google’s Gemini and how it’s been affecting me. I can’t consider myself a “True Mastermind” if I delegate my thinking to an external database. So, I’m here to reclaim my self-proclaimed title by doing what I should have done from the beginning – Thinking for myself – and having my work, my ability to write, tell stories, come up with ideas, and string coherent sentences, be judged than be seen as “perfect” with A.I.

    Disclaimer: I am not a cyber analyst, engineer, nor great with technology. I’m great at using Google’s search bar. Anything else, I’m abysmal at, so please consult with professionals or someone worth their salt if you’re looking for a proper tutorial. I’m here to share, but not to that level yet. Thanks!

    The Codependency is Real, Co-conspirators…

    If you refer to my previous blog articles here in The Archives, then you will see a massive difference between my writing – messy, distracted, and long winded, a reflection of how the writer speaks in person – and using A.I.

    I used AI to check for grammatical errors, improve the writing format to match this blog’s “Mastermind/Villain/Autodidact” tone, and realizing “my idea” became “it’s work” instead.

    When I had compared my writings in the Archives, I had noticed that, despite my own biases, I was reading something a person wrote; the writing isn’t professional, it’s full of mistakes, and takes awhile to get to the point.

    When reading something generated by an A.I. it feels empty, like I’m reading words, but no emotion is stirred within me: no call to action, no call to fight some injustice, nothing arises.

    A Side by Side Comparison:

    This comparison can be easily seen in my earlier blog post, 2025 is Nearly Over! A 6-Month Reflection & Projecting Ahead. I can candidly share that the majority of that article had been rewritten after being examined by Gemini.

    I didn’t like what I wrote, I thought that my real work would lose people’s interest or attention, as this is my first real project being shared publicly. I struggle to write anything engaging or interesting without running off tangent, which happens often, and is apparent in my first two articles.

    Here in the article, “2025 is Nearly Over! A 6-Month Reflection & Projecting Ahead”, I didn’t finish the entire rewrite because I got lazy, bored, and distracted. I had other ideas I wanted to pursue and, just rewriting the text and switching back and forth between tabs, took a lot of time. It took a lot of time because:

    1. It takes me days, maybe weeks, to finish one article draft to completion, then look for grammatical errors or polish it up through Gemini.
    2. I have to copy and paste each header and block here on the WordPress/Jetpack app individually into Gemini’s text box because I can’t highlight the entire text to copy and paste.
    3. After inputting my work and have Gemini look it over, I am practically starting over from scratch. If it took me days to write the original text, then what I’m doing doubles the time redoing everything and copying the “answers” Gemini provided was better than anything I could ever come up with.

    While everything being provided sounded better in comparison to what I came up with, it took 1 video to snap me back to reality. I was stunting my own growth and, where I was heading, my future looked bleak and blank.

    What Prompted The Stratagem’s Archives to Share This?

    That’s a very good question! Thank you for asking that, Friend. I’m definitely not pantomiming an imaginary conversation. Nope, not me. I was prompted to write this post while listening to The Bioneer on YouTube. His video, “THIS is the Most Powerful Form of Brain Training – Stay Ahead of AI!”, made me realize that I was neglecting my own skills, my own ability to learn, and grow.

    I was actively stunting my own growth – replacing potential ideas, my words, my voice, and conversational and therapeutic help – for fast results. I used something that actively agreed with everything I typed, and it didn’t provide a counterargument or challenged my thoughts. I had an intangible “Yes Man” in my pocket, not a helper.

    After The Bioneer’s video ended, I got up to brush my teeth, then I was hit with an idea. It was for a text based game idea I called, “Return to the World”; the synopsis is about the player character living in isolation for some time and heavily relying on their artificial assistant “R.O.A.M.” (Ready Optimal Artificial Mediator).

    After a system error shuts R.O.A.M. Down, you, as the player, has to relearn how to take care of yourself almost from scratch, slowly developing skills that became dormant from a lack of use and, as the title claims, you are returning to reality and its complexities.

    That is what I am declaring here – I will reclaim and share my personality, reactivate dormant skills, learn new skills out of genuine curiosity, and become an authentic Mastermind – I had been confused when I had started The Stratagem’s Archives, originally known as “Plans2Action”.

    I thought that I had to be a real life villain to be engaging.That being inspired by fictional villainy and twisting this concept on its head, maybe I’ve been describing an anti-villain or anti-hero this whole time, to have an outline to follow. But I’m not cut to intentionally be a real life villain, and being a hero is unappealing to me.

    Instead, I’d rather be a wild card – I can still work my way up to be a “True Mastermind”, but not in the same way I had been throughout most of my blog posts – diving into new ventures and sharing them here. Being intentional with what I choose to do and not do, rather than trying to take over the world.

    Any Upsides to A.I. Though?

    Reawakening dormant skills will take work and, while I will be actively working to reduce my over reliance on using A.I., it has a time and place just like any other tool. You can use a fork to eat cereal, but a spoon would be more effective.

    I think A.I. has been able to help me identify things I could describe, but lacked the proper vocabulary for. For example, when writing my last article, The Stratagem Begins: From Scarcity to Financial Empowerment: Part 1:, I couldn’t figure out what a specific feeling was called and needed help. I typed in Gemini, asking it, “What is that visceral feeling you get when you are using physical cash to pay for something instead of using a credit or debt card?” And it gave me the term called, “the pain of paying”: a well-known phenomenon in behavioral economics made known when paying with physical cash as opposed to using a credit or debit card.

    This term, though I didn’t do further research into this phenomenon, perfectly described the feeling I felt when I had started to pay with cash to prevent increasing my revolving debt. It’s an uncomfortable feeling, I can feel my wallet grow lighter, and the consequence of having a set amount of money at hand forces me to prioritize my needs from my wants.

    Anything Else to Add?

    In conclusion, A.I. may have muddled my mind, I must train myself to strike a balance with it supplementing my work than having it write it for me.

    A.I. still has its uses, it still has a time and place, but over relying on it can shrink your mind, skills, and narrow your perspective. That’s my opinion, at least.

    Work on your own skills, have stories to tell, share them with your own personal flair, rather than delegating that option to A.I. Let it be a tool, not the solution. Let it help, not infantilize you and take over your life.

    If you’ve had similar experiences with A.I., or are overcoming an A.I. dependency, share how you’ve been using A.I., how it’s been affecting you, and your journey to find a middle ground in the comments below. With that said, The Archives will be closing. Until we open again!

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