This article was supposed to just be a post sharing that I followed Mosaic of Thoughts. But their take on the creeping threat of A.I. into creative fields unlocked feelings that I wasn't really aware I was harbouring. This will be a nightmare for my retention but please read their piece here first if you haven't already.
Well, why don't you go drown yourself right now in the river? I wanted to respond. Instead, I said something along the lines of humans needing time to process ideas and that just seeing words on the screen does little to generate actual knowledge. Needless to say, I'm not seeing that person again.
Books, film and gaming were an emotional refuge for me as a child. Whether it was a tool to communicate my emotional state, an outlet for rage, or a handy distraction, creative individuals scattered over space and time played a huge role in my mental stability. 6-10 year-old me read voraciously, from comic books to encyclopaedias, to novels and to pamphlets. Anything and everything. Then came music, where I learned to play a variety of brass instruments including the trumpet, E-flat horn and French horn. I then got into DJing and music production, spending countless hours on Virtual DJ, Ableton and Rekordbox. Then, gaming - which teenage boy didn't have their share of this in the 2000s? And now, I write. For clients, for strangers on social media, and for me.
Seeing A.I. coming for each of these fields of creative expression not just worries me, it fills me with immense despair. Mosaic of Thoughts' piece that invoked this response starts with the A.I. tools that summarise books and articles. They make some incredibly strong points on how this takes away the opportunity for one to glean their own lessons from a piece of work. Whether it's classical literature or a steamy romance novel, an author has created a journey through this story for you. This art is meant to be experienced. As enjoyers of art, we are choosing to trust the creative minds of other people and dive into their ideas. We've paid with our money, but we are also paying with our attention.
This is, however, a much more critical concern from the perspective of the artists. If you're somebody with an creative pursuit from before generative A.I., this sense of dread is all too relatable. We've spent years building and honing skills, bearing our souls through our work. That nervousness before you step on stage, or the self-doubt before you post a blog, despite knowing that you're well prepared, you're focused, and you're going to crush it. A.I. can't feel nervous, nor does A.I. have a 'soul' and life experience to bear. What you make will evolve over time because you grow as an artist and in life experience. Different people will resonate with you work at different stages. That's the point. The best we can hope for with generative A.I. in its current state is "content," a word that's inducing nausea as I'm typing it. A.I. can grow in its capabilities such as an expanded knowledge base and an improved ability to draw reasoning from patterns. But in order for it to grow as an artist, it needs a starting point and a journey. We would need something closer to AGI to do this.
And that gives me a bit of optimism. The thing is, you ask a lot of people who's fields are perceived to be threatened by the A.I. boom, there's an (anecdotal) pattern I've noticed. Experienced writers, artists, programmers and musicians all effectively say the same thing - A.I.'s attempts at copy/art/code/music are 'ok' at best. Nobody with any expertise believes something like this is ready to share. As a writer, I know that certain words or phrases can carry considerable impetus or baggage. Some ideas can only be communicated in a limited amount of ways in order to retain factuality. A.I. can, at best, provide me with a first draft and save some time. Considerable input and iterations are still needed before I would feel confident in sending it out.
A.I. will get better, I find it hard to believe all these billions being invested will be wasted. But I think that, firstly, we need to be more aware of the work that goes into crafting this soft of work to begin with. Only people who have not indulged in creating art would have the audacity to try and make it feel this disposable, intentionally or otherwise. ChatGPT is already helping us realise the Dead Internet Theory, where it just becomes a bunch of robots talking to each other online. Just have a look at the shitshow that is Facebook in 2024. We need to work together to quarantine the rot.
For the artists out there though, remember - you have a massive advantage. You've lived a life. You've experienced things that other human beings can relate to. We are all creators, aided by whatever tools we use. We have platforms unlike at any other time in human history, millions can be affected by our work. This is the golden age of being a creator - embrace it, share it. Protect it.
Until AGI condenses the entirety of all lived experience into a gestalt entity, we have an edge. Let me leave you with our final competitive advantage against Skynet.
All the best for your creative journey, fellow artist.
Marv
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