The Creativity Battle: Man vs. Machine

As advances in artificial intelligence (AI) continue to accelerate, there has been much debate about the potential for machines to replace human workers, including in fields that require creativity. While it is true that AI can perform certain tasks faster and more efficiently than humans, there is a growing consensus among experts that AI cannot fully replace human creativity.

AI is rapidly becoming much more advanced, allowing it to be used in a variety of fields: art, writing and science to name a few. While AI has the potential to greatly enhance our creative abilities, it will never outshine human creativity. 

OpenAI recently launched a chatbot called ChatGPT. This new AI has many abilities: conversing with the user, having the ability to recall previous questions and answer follow-up questions, fixing and admitting its mistakes and rejecting inappropriate prompts.

Additionally, it is capable of creating poems in a specific style, writing and correcting code and writing original scripts for movies from a basic prompt.

ChatGPT is advantageous because it’s a generative AI, meaning it can create responses from scratch. Its knowledge is based on texts and information from up until 2021, which means that it will not be able to provide accurate or relevant responses to queries about more recent events or developments.

Although it has ample knowledge, ChatGPT also has a relatively high rate of error, meaning that one should double-check their answers it gives them. Although due to ChatGPT’s versatility, many students have been using it to assist with their homework– and sometimes even do it for them.

A PV student has chosen to stay anonymous to talk about using ChatGPT. “I’ve been using it to help me with my math and english. It provides a step-by-step explanation for math problems, helping me learn. I always double-check the answers because it’s wrong sometimes. And for English, it helps me generate ideas but it’s really not good enough to write whole essays on its own,” they shared.

In fact, the first graf of this article was written by ChatGPT by inputting the prompt, “I’m writing an article for a school newspaper about how AI can’t replace human creativity. Write an introduction for it.”

Results sounding nearly human-made makes it tough for teachers to distinguish student’s writing from AI written work.

AP Literature teacher Robyn Samuelson frets about students using this bot. “I’m really worried students will use this to replace critical thinking. Most of the English curriculum is structured so students can think and connect the dots on their own. However, with ChatGPT, students just skip that step,” Samuelson shared.

Samuelson is also interested in using it to better the classroom. “I’ve also been thinking of ways to incorporate ChatGPT into our curriculum so that students can learn about it and know when it is appropriate to use it. I’ve been playing with it a lot and intrigued on what else we can use this for,” Samuelson continued.

In addition to writing, another one of AI’s endeavors is art.

OpenAI also released a tool called DALL-E. This is an AI that makes art based on the prompt and style given by the user. This tool has gained popularity due to its accurate and realistic art pieces, even winning an art competition.

The problem with this tool is that it might be stealing art without giving credit. 

The AI draws inspiration from a large database of art created by numerous artists. Subsequently, the original artists do not receive credit for their pieces. Some mangled signatures even make it to the final product, especially on a popular AI Art app called Lensa AI.

Lensa rose to popularity after a wave of content creators posted AI art pictures of themselves on social media. To use the app, one feeds selfies into the AI and must pay an annual fee of $29.99. The app then uses those selfies to make art about them in a way that the user selects. 

There is no doubt these images look original and creative, but where are they really coming from?

We don’t know what databases are specifically being used for DALL-E and Lensa AI, but these databases definitely contain art from real people who aren’t being given credit. Because AI is relatively new, there has not yet been a precedent set regarding copyright laws or what is considered ‘stealing.’

Although AI itself can never be ‘creative’ in the way that humans are, it can provide creative insight by analyzing vast amounts of data, providing humans with new angles on old problems. AI is revolutionizing the creative process and allowing humans to work more efficiently and effectively.

Recent advancements in AI technology have instigated a surge of interest in its impact on creativity. 

AI can be used to create high-level works of art with complexity beyond the capabilities of any sole human endeavor. 

Sophomore Tanya Rastogi is a local award-winning artist. “It’s too early to predict the long-term effects of AI on the field of visual art and design, but I do have some predictions. Since the appeal of AI art is primarily aesthetic, jobs involving ‘practical’ art may soon be at risk. Fine Art, such as that required for exhibitions, character design and children’s books, will probably stay alive for longer since they require a human creative element. History will repeat itself with a situation similar to the introduction of photography: people will create new forms of visual expression that cannot be generated,” Rastogi shared.

This symbiotic relationship between technology and human endeavor suggests that rather than replacing human creativity, AI can be used as an aid to allow creative processes to reach higher levels of innovation and expression. AI can also be utilized to optimize workflow processes, removing the need for mundane or potentially unsafe tasks to be performed by people. 

But no matter how advanced AI may become, it can never outmatch human creativity. Human creativity relies on imagination, original thinking and emotion – all things that no AI technology can replace. 

In the end, AI is just a tool. Human creativity will continue to remain essential in the arts, literature and other creative industries.