Is AI Replacing Creativity?

If you have been on the internet or social media in the past year, I’m sure you have noticed an increase in AI-created content. What started as simply sharing AI’s answers to users’ curious questions has now become something much bigger.

I first became aware of AI when my friends would ask AI chatbots about their deepest questions about life, the universe, and scientific theories. They found the answers interesting, and using chatbots for a few minutes a week wasn’t hurting anyone. However, now social media has been flooded with new kinds of AI-generated content. Over the past year, AI has advanced in remarkable ways. It can now replicate human voices, clone human faces, and generate complex content from a simple prompt.

This is now a major problem. People have started using AI’s new advances to create a variety of artistic content, though calling it ‘artistic’ is an oxymoron. This includes AI-generated ‘music’, fabricated AI photoshoots, and AI-generated ‘paintings’. Sometimes, these users are honest about their creation, but other times, users pass this content off as their own, hard-earned, creative projects, easily fooling social media users with little media literacy and experience.

Music

In recent news, there has been a lot of backlash over AI-generated music popping up in listeners’ feeds. On many streaming platforms, users have noticed that some ‘Hot New Artists’ are aliases for robotic personas that have begun publishing AI-generated songs. One of these AI ‘artists’ includes Xania Monet, an AI musical ‘artist’ whose song “How Was I Supposed to Know?” was the first AI-created song to enter the Adult R&B Billboard Charts.

When people realized that Xania Monet was nothing but Artificial Intelligence, they were not pleased. Many people felt they were being lied to, and others were furious that a machine that could create a melody in minutes became so popular, while real artists who write their own lyrics, create unique choruses, and work hard to promote their music are struggling to grow a fan base.

This also creates bigger issues for upcoming bands trying to grow a fan base. One of the easiest ways to tell if an artist is AI or not is to look at their musical history. If they only started releasing music in the past year, there’s a good chance that it could be an AI-generated ‘artist’. However, for artists and bands just forming, this means fighting to build a fan base when many listeners intentionally overlook artists with less than a year’s worth of discography.

Photoshoots

Another form of artistic expression I have noticed AI has replaced is photography. Photographers love to express themselves through their photos, whether that be moody close-ups of nature, bold action shots of athletes, or traditional family portraits. Since the 19^th century, taking professional photos has been a hobby for many people.

However, now that AI is more accessible, people are creating their own AI-generated photoshoots. All you need to do is submit a few photos of your face and tell AI what you want your ideal photoshoot to look like. Then, the AI will analyze your face and create a fabricated clone of yourself in the typical photoshoot style. Out of the many AI- generated shoots that have been created, I have come across dozens of identical birthday photoshoots with plain backgrounds and number balloons, Y2K-style photoshoots with bright backgrounds and colorful details, and even seasonal couple photoshoots.

People are drawn to using AI for photoshoots because it is fast, it is free, and it doesn’t take any brainstorming- all things that are required when participating in a real photoshoot with a real photographer. However, using AI for photoshoots is not only demeaning to real photographers trying to improve their craft and grow their clientele, but it also lacks the most human aspect of photoshoots- the memories!

Participating in a photoshoot can be a long process, though many clients find it exciting. Throughout the couple of hours of the shoot, you are not only spending time with the photographer and loved ones, but you also get to experiment with different poses and locations. Then, when you have your finalized photos, you can reflect on the time and effort it took to get the specific shots, thus making the final products feel that much more rewarded. When you create photoshoots with AI, however, there are no memories attached, other than immediate gratification.

Paintings

You don’t just see this content on social media either. Many major retailers, such as Hobby Lobby, have started selling AI-generated wall art that people purchase, whether they’re aware it’s a machine-generated creation or not, and hang in their homes.

Sometimes, these paintings are very clearly AI-generated. For example, I recently saw a painting that Hobby Lobby was selling. It was a cat wearing a leather jacket playing a fiery red electric guitar. Not only was it tacky, but it was also way too smooth and polished for a design of that complexity. Other times, these AI-generated pieces resemble real paintings with watercolor strokes and muddy, blended colors. It’s always a letdown when I see a piece that looks appealing at first glance, but when I look longer, I realize it’s nothing but “AI slop” as social media users have begun to say.

It’s especially disheartening because some older customers who would not tolerate robot-created art in their household sometimes cannot tell the difference and end up falling for the trap anyway. However, there are ways you can tell the difference between AI-generated ‘paintings’ and real, creative masterpieces.

1. AI-generated art usually contains warped patterns and backgrounds. This is because AI cannot properly shade colors the way a human hand can, which leaves the background looking blurred and distorted.

2. Things that would be a no-brainer for artists are not considered by these AI systems. For example, if the piece includes shadows that are positioned incorrectly in reference to the light source, it’s probably AI-generated.

3. Arguably the most obvious is that AI loves to replicate scumbling, which, if you aren’t aware, is a painting technique that involves applying a thin layer of dry paint on a dry canvas. One of the most famous painters known for his scumbling techniques is Claude Monet.

   
   

The Problem

As I mentioned earlier, using AI once a week is not the worst thing in the world. Sure, there are ethical concerns that arise when anyone uses Artificial Intelligence, no matter the purpose. However, when people use AI frequently to replicate ‘artistic’ content, they are not only contributing to the already massive environmental issues, but also actively reducing their own creative skills.

While some people are more creative than others, creativity is a natural ability everyone is born with. Some people express their creativity through cooking, while others through fashion. Everyone has their own unique skills and means of expressing creativity, but when you use a robotic system to create something for you, the possibility of growing your artistic talents decreases.

According to Brad Holland of Medium magazine, “without creativity, humanity would quickly descend into a static existence.” Creativity is something that humans have expressed and celebrated since the prehistoric period, and it’s certainly not going to disappear now, despite AI’s efforts. So, the next time that you want to use AI to generate a song, a photoshoot, or a painting, consider learning the skill yourself and creating the art with your own hands instead. Humanity will thank you.