AI isn’t a cheat code, it’s one of the most powerful tools in the maker’s toolkit. Using AI to fill in your knowledge and ability gaps, rather than just to cover those gaps, can help round out the skills you need to be successful as a creative. Whether you’re an artist, engineer, or small business owner, AI can help you design faster, test smarter, and share your work with the world. You might already be using AI in ways you don’t even notice.
Here are a few ways AI is reshaping what’s possible for makers and entrepreneurs:
If you sell your creations online, AI can help you describe them clearly and creatively. Tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, or Shopify’s built-in AI writer can generate compelling product descriptions, headlines, and social media posts. That means less time staring at a blank page and more time actually making. Offloading the tasks that you find tedious can remove barriers that get in the way of your progress.
Example: Upload a photo of your original design, and AI can write descriptions that highlight its materials, inspiration, and uniqueness. Play with the output and adjust the tone to suit your brand.
AI can be a great collaborator for brainstorming ideas, refining designs, or suggesting new directions. Even the process of explaining your idea to an LLM like ChatGPT can help clarify your thoughts, and asking a chatbot to interpret your explanation can help reveal if your vision is coming across as you anticipate it will. Remember that most LLMs are designed to be highly encouraging and “tell you what you want to hear,” so make sure you’re taking its feedback with a grain of salt and remaining appropriately critical of your own work.
Example: Makers are using AI image tools to explore patterns for laser cutting, color palettes for resin art, or geometric variations for jewelry design — often finding inspiration they wouldn’t have reached on their own.
When scaling up a product or testing different configurations, AI can help run simulations or analyze performance data. Machine learning algorithms can reveal which designs or materials work best before you ever commit to a large production run. Again, it’s important to check the work before using AI-driven conclusions to make big decisions.
Example: Board game designers can use AI to test and compare thousands of outcomes based on different configurations of game pieces. They would also need to run playtests with humans to verify the playability and fun-factor of the game, but they can save time by using math to narrow down some design aspects.
AI design tools can help makers fine-tune projects for strength, material use, and aesthetics — or even customize designs for individual customers. It’s especially helpful for people running small-batch production or creating one-of-a-kind items.
Example: An AI-assisted CAD program can automatically adjust a lamp design to use less filament or tailor-fit a wearable device for someone’s exact measurements, speeding up prototyping and reducing waste.
Every maker hits a barrier — maybe it’s branding, coding, data analysis, or product testing. AI can bridge those gaps. It can help write business plans, generate pricing comparisons, or even draft customer emails. It doesn’t replace the human behind the idea; it just removes the friction between inspiration and execution.
Example: A maker may be skilled in 3D CAD but inexperienced in graphic design. Maybe they mock up a draft graphic for social media and ask ChatGPT to critique it from the perspective of a professional graphic designer. After considering and implementing suggestions, they’ll have a better design and a better idea of how to approach future designs.
For makers, AI is not a replacement for creativity, it’s an amplifier! It helps turn sketches into prototypes, prototypes into products, and products into sustainable ventures.
The maker movement has always been about access to tools, ideas, and opportunity. AI is simply the next tool on that workbench.
Want to learn more about the modern tools Makers are using to bring help their creativity take shape? Visit the 2026 Des Moines Mini Maker Faire at the Science Center of Iowa on April 11th. This year’s theme is Empowered Tools: how evolving and traditional tools help creatives bring their ideas to life!
Want to be an exhibitor at this year’s Maker Faire? Applications are open now through March 11th, 2026.