AI and creativity

Is automation coming for your job? There are a lot of factors to consider. Some jobs are easier to automate than others. For years, there has been one area that I have identified as being hard to replicate. If you look at the title of this post, you already know the topic. I have decided to discuss creativity.

Creativity should at least be possible using artificial intelligence, but it's not as easy to program artificial intelligence to create new thoughts and ideas as it is to answer questions using natural language, find information that's not in plain sight, or even turn words into computer code. Artificial intelligence is a broadly used term, but nothing right now is even close to machines being able to actually think.

Artificial intelligence has taken some shortcuts such as applying an existing style to a prompt. For example, you could ask AI programs to explain the theory of relativity in the style of Dr. Seuss or create a realistic photograph of a cartoon character. None of these things are genuinely creating new ideas.

My views regarding the ability of artificial intelligence to actually create has really changed over the years. When comparing the creativity of artificial intelligence to the creativity of humanity, however, we can't look exclusively at artificial intelligence.

Over the last couple of decades, pretty much the only thing humans have created that nobody expected was wheeled hoverboards. It gets even worse when you look at Hollywood. We have a supposedly creative profession that can't seem to do anything other than reboots, remakes, and sequels. Creativity in Hollywood is essentially dead.

Movies and television shows are increasingly feeling formulaic. Can humans outperform artificial intelligence in following formulaic patterns? I would say no. This definitely shifts things favorably towards artificial intelligence.

My views on creativity have shifted a bit in recent years. Artificial intelligence is a bigger threat to creative professions than I previously anticipated. This isn't because I underestimated artificial intelligence. It's because humans have lost the ability to create. Our standards for creativity are so low that it shouldn't take nearly as much as I originally anticipated for artificial intelligence to surpass the ridiculously low standards of modern-day humanity.