In the defense of AI - we are not that creative

In recent months, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a hot topic, with discussions ranging from its potential to revolutionize industries to its potential to surpass human intelligence. However, there are also concerns about AI taking over jobs and even the world. Despite these concerns, there are many reasons why humans should not fear the rise of AI. One of the main reasons is that, in many ways, we are not that different from machines.

I know, shots fired! I was surprised myself. But thinking about the nature of machine intelligence and that of good old mankind I quickly came to the conclusion that we are not on a fundamental level all that different.

Let us consider the nature of creativity. It is often claimed that humans possess an innate creativity that machines lack. Our brain possesses the capability of true creativity to not just derive our works from others but to create things anew from the endless weather of the mind.

However, studies have shown that AI can create artwork, music, and even write novels of quite exceptional quality. In fact, AI-generated art has sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years. Our main concern just seems to be if it has been created or synthesized by an organic or digital mind.

Good artists copy; great artists steal.

A quote that has been attributed to Steve Jobs, Paublo Piccaso, T.S Eliot and many others. Why? Because they stole it. Or where inspired by it and reused it and repurposed it for their own need. It is not more true or false depending on which mind created it.

They were all inspired and repurposed an idea, a concept, just like all human creativity before and after. Nothing is new under the sun and all artists derive their works from other artists that came before. That is the strength of humankind and our creativity and is exactly the same process that has been adapted by the digital mind. Only much faster.

We tend to look down on things that were easy to create as things that lack hastily and haphazardly thrown together without any true craftsmanship and true soul or essence. A cheap chair from IKEA (I’m a swede so where else would I get my furniture?) lacks that sertaint almost magical dimensions of a chair made by a master craftsman. Or so we tend to think.

They may look the same and perform the same function, their only difference between them tends to be their availability and price. Which one is the best from a creative point of view? How do we measure creativity and design? Who copied who? And is the first one really the first one of its kind?

The truth is that nobody knows. We all create, convince and build our works on the back of giants (or at least the people that came before us). Nothing is new in the grand scheme of things. Just the condensed essence of the person creating it, their inspirations and the influences of others boil down to something somewhat new. Just like the once that came before us and like the once that will take our place. And, just like a machine learning algorithm.