Crazy Little Thing Called AI

Hello Everyone, I hope all is well with you and the world seems slightly less of a disturbing place to be although, tragically, with the number of mass shootings in the US, I should imagine, that's hard to believe for the good people over there. I think we all keep them and their families in our thoughts and before anyone feels the need to remind me, I'm not an American and so 'it's not my problem', I'll just say, I believe we all exist on the same planet and so need to show care and compassion regardless of which nation we happen to call home. Take only the briefest glimpse back into recent history and it's very clear just how harmful it is to look the other way.

But all that to one side, I want to talk today about the rise of AI with a particular focus on how it's starting to affect writing and The Arts in general. For those few who might not be aware, a growing number of artists and authors regularly use AI to create their work. As far as writing is concerned, it is now possible to type a few prompts, which will be answered with a lengthy, grammatically correct response. Now, on the face of it, this might seem harmless until we look a little deeper as to where the answers come from. For example, the ChatGPT app and others like it have an inbuilt database that contains millions of pieces of information and text from existing books. So, if I were to type in a series of  questions, detailing that I want to write about two warring families, both of whom have teenagers who fall in love, secretly marry and die tragically, the chances are, the suggested plot would be almost identical to 'Romeo & Juliet.' Now, even if I use different names, and swap Verona for Vancouver, the plot twists and turns would be Shakespeare's work and not mine, yet, in the current climate, I could publish the book with my own name on the cover. Obviously, I'm well aware that a number of books have been published that do have a similar story outline but, until recently, those were still written by a human being, who took only the core idea and yet explored different avenues for the story to unfold.

But this goes beyond writing, there are 'artists' who routinely use AI to create pictures rather than actually pick up a pencil or brush and do the work themselves. Yes, the results are impressive but, to me at least, they are soulless. Speaking for myself, the whole point of art is to try and cause a response to occur within your audience, to do that effectively, there has to be genuine feeling coming from the creator. However clever a computer might be, any emotions it exhibits are those it's been programmed to show, therefore they are both manufactured and fake. 

Now why does this matter? Simply put, art has been of every civilisation since the earliest people painted a cave wall, carved a stone or built a temple. It is the way countless generations have used to show their lives, hopes, dreams, rituals- the list goes on. If it were possible to take a person from Ancient Egypt and bring them to the present day, most of what they would see would be a complete mystery until you took them to an art gallery. Even if the subject matter was alien to them, the concept of capturing a moment or a scene would be entirely familiar. If you have ever gone to a museum and seen exhibits of ancient artefacts, you'll understand they are physical glimpses of a world, which even if it doesn't exist anymore, through art, we can still appreciate its beauty. But those pieces were created by a living, breathing person who cared enough to carve the marble, paint the ceiling, fire the pottery etc Long after they die, their spirit remains within their work to inspire and amaze all of us. As we stand and look, most people find themselves marvelling at the talent of the artist, we openly wonder at how long it must have taken, the sheer level of skill involved and maybe as we leave, wishing we could make something quite so incredible.

But now, what will our legacy be? A computer-generated picture? A vase that was produced by a 3-D printer? Doesn't that strike you as incredibly sad? Especially when you consider just how many extraordinary artists are honing their craft as I'm writing this post, focusing their energies on life drawing, pencil work, brush techniques etc. Not to mention, all the photographers studying how to capture just the right blend of light and shadow and, of course, authors like myself who write and rewrite until we feel, we have a story worth sharing with the wider world. As a society, are we really ready to tell all creatives, that it's time to pack up and go home, as now there is a computer somewhere, that can achieve similar results? I sincerely hope not.

Just as those early civilizations left their mark, I genuinely believe, it is for us to continue what they started, to search within ourselves to find inspiration and share with the world. The Arts as a whole, unite people, whether it's the thousands attending a Taylor Swift concert, people crowding into a comedy club to laugh together or maybe reading groups sharing their love of books. All differences are put aside, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, or sexuality, as we come together to enjoy art, in all its forms. What a tragedy it would be for those experiences to be lost, to become a thing of the past because everything those artists could do, can be replicated by a computer program.

Finally, I am well aware there might be some of you, who believe, AI is nothing more than a tool and that I am being unnecessarily negative. I genuinely hope, you are right but I feel, even now, there is growing evidence to suggest the fears are not unfounded. When global leaders within the social media and technology world, come together to voice their concerns, perhaps we do need to take note. Our ability to create is such a precious gift, let's not collectively decide, it isn't worth preserving as now we have discovered a 'quicker' way to produce art which even though we did little more than press a button, we claim as our own work.

Anyway, that's more than enough from me, I hope you all stay safe and well, until next time...

Take care out there xxx