don't outsource your style to ai
style is why people care, why they feel connected. don't throw that away.
What to expect...
Tone: outdoor voice
Snark level: low af, bordering on pure sincerity
Other special provisions: I'm embracing my inner artist. deal with it.
the prophets of ai continue to promise their favored tech will make our lives easier. thanks to ai, more of the things we want are only a click or a prompt away. you can now inject ai wherever you want, as ai can help you with writing, music creation, and image editing, as just a few examples.
I don't fault anyone for using these offerings, especially because I've used them in my own way in the past, and very well may continue to do so at different points in my life. but I have my concerns in regard to mass adoption. at what point does technology rob us of originality—and when is that scenario, okay, and when is it not?
should we be concerned about the loss of originality in terms of cold hard facts? we likely don't care about originality when it comes to complex math—think balance sheets and revenue forecasting. in those cases, the work to get those numbers isn't the point—deciding what to do with the information is the point.
but what about fields we've traditionally considered more artistic? fields like writing, music, and graphic design. in such fields, there's not so much separation between the process and the end result. in art, there may not be an explicit end result. so, the process is more largely the point. what you choose to include or exclude may be subjective. these decisions are part of your style, one of the crucial aspects of art. does anyone care about style in regard to number crunching? if so, they may wanna get that checked out.
as we remove ourselves from the creative process and forfeit agency to ai and algorithms, at what point are we enabling the erosion of style?
the prophets of ai will say that ai tools can unlock creativity previously unrealized. maybe that's true for a small segment of people. call me cynical, but I imagine few will put in the time to learn how to improve their prompts to improve their results. most will put in minimum effort and take whatever ai gives them, leading an ever-more homogenous internet. the future is more likely to be less original. the tools meant to empower us will instead make us all the same.
people probably don't expect numbers to have personality and quirks. but we expect these personal touches from artistic projects.
art goes beyond having the right answer. art is also about the habits of the artist—aka style. style is the artist's most-cherished asset. style is what makes the audience relate to the art and the artist—the very thing that makes anyone care.
as we further integrate ai into art, are we at risk of losing those stamps of authenticity we unknowingly put in our work? those little hints that remind our audiences that we're the authors of our works? and if style is the most valuable thing we have, are we smart to risk losing it?
