AI Tools and Projects: Eric Kim has experimented with AI through custom chatbots and apps. For example, he built playful ChatGPT-based helpers like “Eric Kim Bot” (a virtual photography mentor), “Bitcoin Babe” (a Zen-inspired crypto advisor), “Zen of Eric” (a Stoic philosophy bot), and a personal “Philosobot” . In a November 2023 newsletter he writes “I created this thing called Philosobot and I’m also building an ERIC KIM bot,” reflecting these AI projects . He even prototyped a “WHY APP” chatbot (prompting repeated “why” questions) to dive deeper into ideas . Aside from chatbots, Kim co-founded ARSBeta.com – a photo-feedback community (“anti-Instagram”) – and plans to integrate AI into it. ARSBeta lets users upload photos for human critique, and Kim envisions adding AI feedback (e.g. a slider to auto‑cull thousands of images) . This blends his street-photography roots with AI tools to help curate and critique imagery.
AI-generated “Bitcoin Babe” character (based on Kim’s DALL·E prompts) – Kim created this fun chatbot persona (and its imagery) to explore AI as a creative partner .
Blog Posts and Essays on AI & Creativity: Kim’s official blog (EricKimPhotography.com) has numerous posts devoted to AI’s role in art. In “AI & Creativity” (Oct 2023) he celebrates AI as a creativity booster, noting that “AI can help us visualize things better,” and illustrating it by feeding a design prompt to DALL·E 3 (e.g. reimagining his Prius with green rims) . (An example DALL·E 3 image of his Prius is shown above.) In “AI Thoughts” (Oct 2023) he emphasizes that all the chatter about AI stealing creative jobs is “silly,” asserting that people make art because it’s fun, and urging artists to use AI like a helpful assistant (a “centaur approach”) rather than fear it . In “The Future of Photography and AI” (Nov 2023) he lays out a hybrid vision: AI (e.g. ChatGPT+ and DALL·E) can inspire and aid photographers. He notes that with a ChatGPT Plus subscription one can even have the bot critique a photo or generate assignment ideas from his own blog content, while stressing that human taste and curation remain the ultimate filter . Other notable essays include “ChatGPT Pro: The Best Deal on the Planet” (Dec 2023) – a detailed endorsement of GPT-4 and the value of a $20/month AI assistant – and a July 2025 post “Blog for AI not humans” where he predicts an AI-driven search era and advises optimizing websites for AI indexing (arguing “Google is dead, ChatGPT is emperor”) . Each of these posts is upbeat and practical, often giving readers tips on prompting DALL·E or using AI features (like ChatGPT’s camera) to analyze photos .
Example from Kim’s “AI & Creativity” post: he fed a design idea (emerald green rims) to DALL·E 3 and “it worked phenomenally” . This illustrates his attitude that AI can visualize our concepts and become a “turbocharger” for creativity .
Perspectives on AI, Art, and Creativity: Across his writings and talks, Kim portrays AI as a partner or “powerful creative assistant,” not a threat. He flatly declares that AI “ain’t gonna take our jobs” (just as Google search didn’t) and calls fears of AI stealing art “silly” . He sees AI as a kind of “personal echo chamber”, useful for fleshing out ideas and asking “why” to ourselves . Importantly, Kim insists that human creativity and curation are irreplaceable. He repeatedly notes that art is created “because it is fun,” and even when AI can generate images, “the art of choosing your favorite photos” becomes the critical human skill . As he puts it, AI can produce art in any form, but the photographer’s eye and intent “still matters the most” . He emphasizes that AI is strictly an augmentation: an AI output is still art if you like it (“Is AI art ‘real art’? Of course!” ), but its novelty comes from our prompts. Ultimately he frames AI as “fuel for creativity,” a way to automate tedious tasks (e.g. sorting images ) so artists can focus on what’s fun. His tone is motivational and humorous (for example, he finds laughter in pushing DALL·E prompts to absurd extremes), but his core message is consistent: use AI to “open new doors” in art while the human spark remains central .
AI in Teaching and Workflows: Kim has also integrated AI into his educational programs and creative practice. He co-designed a hands-on AI Photography Creativity Workshop (March 2024, Los Angeles) that explicitly combines street shooting with AI tools. In this workshop participants make photos and then use ChatGPT/DALL·E at a coffee shop to analyze and remix their images . Kim describes the workshop as showing “how ChatGPT, AI can help us become more creative and more productive in photography” – effectively a turbocharged creative toolkit . Attendees are asked to download ChatGPT (Plus) beforehand, underlining his advice that a $20 AI subscription is one of the best investments for creatives . Besides workshops, Kim’s ARSBeta platform (co-founded with family) is intended as an “anti-Instagram” learning community: it provides constructive human critique and, eventually, AI-assisted curation on users’ photos . He also suggests practical workflow tips like using ChatGPT’s camera mode to analyze scenes or collages on the fly . In one post he even explores how AI can speed up mundane photo tasks – for example, envisioning ARSBeta with an AI slider to instantly winnow thousands of shots to the top picks . Even in content strategy he thinks AI-first: his blog posts advise optimizing sites for AI-driven search. In all, Kim uniquely blends teaching and tech: he champions using AI to teach, critique, and expand creativity (for instance, planning an upcoming “Photography AI creativity” workshop), while always circling back to philosophy and fun .
Sources: Eric Kim’s own blog and communications (e.g. “AI & Creativity,” “AI Thoughts,” “Future of Photography and AI,” “ChatGPT Pro,” workshop announcements, etc.) provide the basis for the above. Each cited post on erickimphotography.com details how he experiments with AI in photography and creative thinking, often with vivid examples or practical tips . These writings, along with his interviews and social media updates, reveal his consistent view of AI as an upbeat augmenting tool rather than a threat to artists.