With the new rise of artificial intelligence and its uses in every possible field, an age-old discussion has been raised. It is an argument between the people who thrive and contribute to the creative fields with the impact of artificial intelligence might have on their industry, income, and lifestyles. While every opinion is valid in this discussion, we have to find an impasse considering how this was the same discussion that began during the industrialization era decades ago, where artisans and small businesses complained about the lack of customers and how a factory lent to their lack of business.
Even then, the argument was that it helped with the advancement of the world, yet the rationalization is debatable. The industrialization era brought on technology to the general citizens and produced goods for the populace with ease. On the other hand, it also contributed heavily to mass deforestation, immense resources from various lands, and unemployment to people who made a living from the same business by having their shops. A few people who would have been affected back then could be the blacksmiths, dress designers, clothmakers, handlooms, and artisans.
Today, with the same situation, AI appears to intimidate people in the creative field, such as artists and writers through the immediate results it creates using the plethora of resources on the internet and existing creative patterns. As mentioned before, this immense content creation may benefit the masses by giving them mundane substances for typical uses. Even though there may be a gap between the consumers and small artists who were surviving through their skills, I believe an understanding can be reached through this unsolvable dilemma.
Having had this same discussion repeatedly with my daughter who is a creator herself, I reached a belief that the genuine consumers of creativity will not be leaving for the creative content created by artificial intelligence. Though it is not a strong belief to go ahead with, I have come to see that not many people have the luxury and time to appreciate creativity in today’s world of hustle culture. And in the same, creative expression has become a lot of things it is not, such as a representation of status or their interest in art. We see imitations of art outselling original artists on platforms like Amazon and eBay. This consumption shows that though art is recognized by people, very few have the eye to marvel at true creativity and appreciate the time, effort, and resources that go into its creation.
So, I would like to conclude with a shaky argument that though AI is daunting in today’s world of eternal competition and unending consumption of creative content the ones who do it for their passions and talents will definitely thrive through the phase of being told that they could be displaced by technology. Technology was made to make lives easier and goes unsaid as an advancement of human evolution. But along with creating tomorrow’s future, people have a funny way of never forgetting the past and appreciating the present now and then. Artificial Intelligence may be the future, but the creative arts are a part of culture and creation beyond time and will always stand apart in its own hall of fame.
