Innovation With a Cyborg Co-Pilot: How I Use AI to Create IP (Without Letting It Drive)
People often talk about AI in extremes, either as a magical idea machine or a looming replacement for human creativity. I see it differently. AI is a thinking partner: fast, clever, and occasionally brilliant. That said, I also wouldn’t let it drive me, or anyone I care about, around in my car without supervision.
When used with discipline, curiosity, and pressure testing, AI can dramatically accelerate IP creation across categories I work in: footwear, bedding, PPE, produce preservation, takeout packaging, even ice-cream scoopability. But it has to be used the right way.
Start With Problems Worth Solving
Innovation begins long before ideas. It starts by selecting the right problems. A problem is only worth pursuing if it is real, frequent, meaningful, underserved, actionable, grounded in identifiable root causes, and likely to lead to protectable structure.
Footwear overheating? Yes.
Produce going soggy? Yes.
Takeout fries turning into wet cardboard? Absolutely.
Changing human nature? Good luck with that.
Map the Journey, Then Let AI Help You Understand the Why
I map the customer journey first, no assumptions, no guessing. Only after I understand where a problem truly occurs do I bring in AI to help explain mechanisms like heat, airflow, moisture, and pressure.
AI is excellent at that part.
But it is not reliable for design direction without continual challenge and pushback.
The X-Ray Apron Lesson
A friend knows a surgeon with debilitating back pain worsened by wearing a 50-lb X-ray apron. I asked AI where the apron created strain.
AI’s first answer: “Down the spine.” Wrong.
Second: “Across the chest, where heat is felt.” Not the main issue.
Finally, after repeated pushback, AI landed on: “Across the shoulders and chest/abdomen,” which actually aligned with anatomy and lived experience.
The point is simple:
AI can generate ideas and possibilities, but without disciplined challenge and clarification, it will confidently send you down the wrong path… if you let it.
Ideas From AI, Design From Humans
Studies show the best creativity comes from humans + AI together. I’ve seen that myself.
AI is great at broadening idea spaces and exploring categories like ventilate, elevate, separate, absorb, and stage heat/moisture.
But design direction, trade-offs, manufacturability, and protectable concept development must be human-led, because only humans understand context, constraints, user behavior, and what is actually feasible.
Proof Before Prototype
Once a concept is shaped, I run quick proof-of-concept tests with proxy materials to validate the physics. If it works, I build real prototypes. That’s the moment where ideas can start to become real IP.
Bottom Line
AI expands my thinking and accelerates research.
But I create the IP.
And in my world, I drive…and AI rides shotgun…with our seatbelts on.
Interested in diving deeper into innovation in an AI world? Michael Fruhling will lead a limited-capacity workshop on Tuesday, April 7 at the COE Summit 2026. Drawing from decades of innovation work and current MBA/Executive Education teaching, Michael will explore how customer journey mapping reveals key breakdowns, root causes, and human-behavior realities that AI alone cannot see. Attendees will leave with a practical, repeatable framework for using the customer journey to identify, define, and validate the right customer problems, before engaging AI or proposing solutions. They will understand how to combine human insight, journey-based diagnostics, and AI-supported ideation to improve accuracy, speed, and adoption.
The Ohio State University Center for Operational Excellence Summit, now in its 13th year, is a three-day event dedicated to connecting diverse industries to the latest best practices in leadership and continuous improvement. This year’s Summit will explore how organizations are rewiring excellence with emerging tech, bold strategies, and future-ready thinking. Top authors, researchers, and lean practitioners will share insights on operationalizing AI, innovating processes, and navigating disruption with clarity and confidence.
COE Summit registration opened for member company employees December 1, 2025. Public registration will launch February 1, 2026.
