The end of creativity?
Throughout history, humans have created many tools that have helped society. These machines have changed the way we think, act and socialize. For example, before cameras were invented people had to rely on painters and sculptors to create realistic images of themselves, and the world around them. Yet after the invention of photography, humans learned how they could use this tool to better society. The camera was able to capture our history and be utilized to create art. When we interact with technology, we must be careful in how we treat it. When we use it as a tool it can help us be innovative and embrace our creativity. Where the problem lies is when we use technology not as a tool to aid us but as a device that we can control. This is similar to the idea of technochauvinism which is “the belief that technology is always the solution to everything” (Broussard). When we rely on technology to create and solve everything for us, with no distinctly human effort there are bound to be problems. This relates to the creation of Sophia the robot, which was created to help resolve loneliness and depression as well as help the healthcare industry. The author points out that this AI can not fix everything in our world. As much as we want AI to help us with everything we must come back to earth and remember that technology is not always the solution to the problem.
One place where AI is used that always surprises me is social media. AI can be used to not only steal your personal information but also to help with marketing and branding. For example, according to the Marketing artificial intelligence institute “These tools can then be trained to leverage individual behaviors, preferences, beliefs, and interests to personalize experiences. They can even know where you’ve been, where you’re going, what you’ve written in emails, what you’ve asked your voice assistants, what groups you belong to, what stores you shop at, and more” (Kaput). This type of technology might seem to some as very useful yet it is an invasion of privacy. AI is something that is always getting smarter, but I can’t help but think how some people will want to abuse it and not utilize it for good.
What I found most interesting in this article was the idea that “it would be virtually impossible to create a rule-based AI system that could imitate the human creative process” (Dickson). I for one have to agree with this notion that creativity will never be replaced by AI. Everyone creates in different and unique ways, therefore not everyone thinks the same. AI will be coded by another person leaving there is no room for creativity within AI. Yet I do believe that AI can help strengthen creative thinking and its process. In the book “Steal Like an Artists” the author talks about how “The artist is a collector… Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by” (Kleon, 13). When human creativity and AI work together creativity can truly flourish.
I think that these pieces connect to the idea that technology is becoming more and more integrated into our society. AI is available in our daily lives but it is up to how we choose to let it hurt us or help us.
Source:
Steal Like an Artist- Austin Kleon
