KOZLOWSKI: AI does not equal artist: How artificial intelligence corrupts creativity
Exactly one year ago, I conducted an experiment to test whether people could differentiate between pieces of writing done by artificial intelligence and that of a real person. The results were quite distressing: people were unable to identify the AI-generated content.
Careers in the creative industry have always been challenging. With towering criticism and strong contenders, the arts have always made up quite the competitive playing field, but with artificial intelligence joining the mix, the arts have never been in more danger.
As thrilling and exciting as AI might seem, it is a new shiny toy that threatens traditional artists as they must compete with the fast and undemanding production of art, writing, music and films. Machines that can produce art that appeases every user so effortlessly rule out any chances artists may have had in the industry.
The other day, I was on YouTube and found myself indulging in a cover of Taylor Swift's song "I Hate It Here" performed by Olivia Rodrigo. I was so impressed by the vocals and the way Rodrigo's voice perfectly fit the melody until I realized something was off.
Certain bits of the song sounded distorted, and the breaths between lyrics were abnormal. When I checked the description, there was a message that read "digitally generated" and "AI." I immediately felt guilty for enjoying the stolen cover of the song and came to the consensus that something was very wrong about using someone else's voice placed on top of another's.
Instead of just being another competitor in the creative industry, AI invades human-created ideas, work and identities.
With many falling victim to the same deceptive AI algorithms on the internet, there is not only something morally wrong about the stolen images and sounds of existing people but also it is also simply not real art.
If you take a closer look at the art done by AI that captures your favorite characters from a novel or movie in a new setting, you can easily recognize that there is something off about someone's hands or observe how the paint strokes do not look natural. This is, of course, because it is neither human nor natural.
There is something incredibly concerning about the normalization of AI and art because it introduces oncoming generations of the human race to art that falsely captures human emotion and talent. Art has been the center of culture for generations and has granted people an avenue for self-expression, purpose and various frames of mind.
Without art, people lose a significant portion of their humanity. With AI, the definition of art is severely distorted, and we are being robbed blindly rather than being helped. Not only are jobs being taken, but also our voices, both literally and figuratively.
In a famous quote from "Dead Poets Society," Mr. Keating says, "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race."
Despite coming from a film created in 1989, the message is very vital to our situation today as we have given the practice of art to something that is not a member of the human race. The lack of art done by the hand of a human will affect not only creativity, the economy, and mental health but also the idea of what it means to be human.
Emotions and feelings are proven to be a skill AI is incapable of recreating because it cannot feel. So, if art is presented from the robotic viewpoint of AI, then there is a great possibility that people's conceptions of emotion and humanity will be distorted.
The grand appeal of AI does not seem to fade with time as it continues to evolve and rid people of daily burdens. As more and more tasks are done using AI, the habitual usage of technology will only continue to grow. With the abuse of AI assistance, indolence will prevail in society until reliability corrupts even the most sustainable jobs.
AI has already begun to permeate the art industry as it is used to produce screenplays, art, music and writing. In the adolescence of AI, it was found that many students had been using AI to write school papers for them, but now it has been used on a larger scale to write for creative industries like Hollywood productions.
This is a grave problem for careers in the creative industry as AI replaces their positions to produce poor-quality work. But because of the fast and mass production, industries continue utilizing AI to provide them with the needed numbers. Quantity over quality is a major proclivity here.
Art was never a burden placed on people but rather an obligation to uphold so that the colors of the world are recreated and never forgotten. While AI can be an advantageous tool, it should not be used for art because it is not artistry. Not only has it invaded the identities of true artists, but also it has endangered job losses in addition to the natural creativity everyone is born with. If we do not use it, we lose it. We cannot lose our creativity to a machine.
Alexis Kozlowski is a first-year in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in english and minoring in film. Kozlowski’s column, “From a Scarlet Heart,” runs on alternate Thursdays.
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