It’s not just a cat: the second-level thinking behind creative AI

In my last article, a cat sketch became a complete creative journey. It was fun, but some customers and Zoomers asked me the other day, 'What’s the point?' This follow-up article digs deeper into what that experiment showed: how second-level thinking with AI can turn quick ideas into real business value.

A few reactions stood out:

• Cool, but... what’s the point?
• This is just for fun, right?
• How does this relate to any business value?

These are fair questions. They highlight a bigger truth about how we view new technology, especially in creative workflows.

This post is about that. About first-level thinking vs. second-level thinking.

First-level thinking sees a cat

At first glance, the project looked like a quirky internal experiment—a fun AI test with no value—a lounging cat with glasses. Entertaining, yes. But 'serious'? Maybe not.

This is what first-level thinking does:

• It sees the surface.
• It reacts quickly.
• It asks, 'Is this useful or not?'

And to be fair, the lounging cat wasn't designed as a direct business case study. It was just... a sketch.

But that's where second-level thinking kicks in.

Second-level thinking asks what it means

Let's take a step back.

What we did was this:

• Took a raw, low-effort sketch.

• Used AI tools (like Chatgpt's image generation) to iterate.

• Translated a rough idea into multiple content assets and photorealism.

Now apply that same process to a real-business context:

• A marketing team is sketching out a booth layout for an upcoming fair.

• A UX designer drawing a wireframe on a whiteboard.

• A content team brainstorming campaign visuals in a workshop.

With tools like Chatgpt, those early ideas don't need to sit in notebooks or get lost in Slack threads. They can evolve visually, quickly, and collaboratively.

From idea to impact

My takeaway is that things happen when you remove friction from the creative process. Faster.

You know those moments when you or your team brainstorm something in a meeting—maybe a booth concept, a landing page layout, or just a mood for a campaign? That's where this clicks. Instead of waiting days or weeks for it to take shape, you can now bring it to life in minutes. You can instantly iterate and evolve it.

You can align your team around a shared vision without a full brief. You can turn abstract into visual.

You can show instead of tell in a pitch, deck, or an internal workshop.

It's not about replacing creative teams. It's about unlocking momentum earlier and helping ideas move before they die in a document or get lost in another Slack thread.

Why this matters

Creativity is business. And ideas are some of the most valuable currency you've got.

But let's be honest—most ideas never get the desired chance. Too many handoffs. Too little time. There are too many rounds of 'Can you visualise that?'

This little cat experiment showed me that the distance between thinking about something and seeing it… is shrinking.

And when that distance gets smaller. The pace of innovation speeds up.

What this was really about

So no, this wasn't just about a cat. That's first-level thinking—seeing only what's on the surface.

But if you look again and ask what this kind of process could unlock in your own work, that's where second-level thinking begins.

It's not about the sketch. It's about what it could become if you're willing to follow your curiosity, use your tools, and say, 'Let’s try.'