DAY THIRTY NINE

"Today's theme is creativity.

It seems like every day, we are bombarded with messages telling us to be more creative. We are told to think outside the box, to push the boundaries of what is possible, and to come up with new and innovative ideas. But what does it really mean to be creative, and how can we tap into our own creativity on a daily basis?

One way to think about creativity is as a process of generating new ideas or perspectives. This can take many different forms, including writing, painting, singing, dancing, or even just daydreaming. No matter what form it takes, creativity requires us to let go of our preconceived notions and to open ourselves up to new possibilities.

One way to cultivate our own creativity is to set aside dedicated time for creative pursuits. This could be as simple as carving out 30 minutes each day to do something creative, like writing in a journal or working on a art project. By setting aside this time, we can give ourselves the space to let our minds wander and to explore new ideas.

Another way to boost our creativity is to expose ourselves to new experiences and perspectives. This could involve trying out new hobbies, traveling to new places, or even just having conversations with people who have different backgrounds and experiences than we do. By exposing ourselves to new ideas and experiences, we can open our minds to new possibilities and spark our creativity."

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With one very minor change to the layout the above post was written in its entirety by an Artifical Intelligence bot in response to a request to write a blog post about creativity. Even I can barely tell the difference between it and something I might have written. Worrying.

I'm not sure yet whether I agree with those artists who are currently saying that AI Art is immoral, but I can certainly see how any number of arts people may have to look to their laurels. There is clearly a threat to their income if the work they do can be easily replicated, as it appears it can be.

That said, at the same time as fairly impressive feats of creation can be demonstrated as having absolutley nothing to do with a human hand, there are many examples of how AI can easily be exposed for what it is. I recently saw an example of the same bot that produced the above being repeatedly caught out by being asked to describe the life and biology of a sea eagle. In general it would seem that the abilities of AI is one of those contested areas with strong supporters on both sides of the argument, some say it is all show and tinsel, others would give it the same intellectual standing as an Einstein or a Plato. 

Throughout my lifetime we have been promised technology which would solve all sorts of human and social problems but in just as many cases as not the promise has remained unfulfilled. It always seems to be just around the corner in so many cases. 

Nonetheless we have all been accommodated to, willy-nilly, the things which technology can do, while the failures are soon forgotten. Add to that the fact that some people are so emanoured of technology that they wish to deliberately blur the boundaries between it and humanity; I'm thinking of those people who want to make themselves 'cybernetic' by having chips and input/output systems embedded in their bodies, which is not the same thing at all as those people who may have been disabled or injured in some way and for whom technology has been harnessed for their direct benefit and wellbeing.

In the same way there will be artists and makers who are keen to harness AI, hoping that they can bend it to their creative ends. And there will also be people currently disenfranchised or excluded by physical or other limitations who are enabled artistically and creatively by the use of ever more 'intelligent' and seamless technology. 

Where we will it end? I don't know the answer to that but I am now thinking of something I said in yesterday's post about the diffence between copyists and genuine artists and makers: I think for me AI, however impressive, will forever remain in the category copyist. As a human I am simply not prepared to allow that the produce of AI could ever be totally original.

Onwards...apprehensively.


Picture credit: Portrait of G.G. Ge as Mephistopheles. Ilya Repin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 


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