Within the span of a few years, the output of an AI bot was able to transform a simple prompt sentence into paragraphs of information in a matter of seconds. The incredibly fast and seemingly all-knowing artificial intelligence has compromised the integrity of countless essays and homework assignments; even further emails, letters, art pieces, and film. AI has been a hot topic of conversation, and has even found itself literally inserted into conversation when pressed for immediate responses, weakening human connection through the generated strings of speech. Where is the good in this?
As AI is working its way into every corner of life, it becomes increasingly more conversated, with people jumping to defend the significance of human work. As it eliminates the need for a human to do the job of handwriting or drawing or producing, AI is also moving the needle on the much needed appreciation of practices such as writing and art.
A couple weeks ago, out to dinner with a friend, the topic of art being an innately human form of communication and expression was up for discussion. For half an hour we acknowledged how crucial it was for art to be made by humans as opposed to generated by a robot, for the reason of integral raw expression being sacrificed.
While AI can scan the internet and draw together various pieces of work into its own interpretation of a prompt, and while its exponential development has led it to create visually appealing pieces, it lacks the key ingredient of humanity. A piece of AI art could not move you to tears in the middle of a museum when visualizing the artist’s infatuation with its subject that led him to paint her over and over in immense detail for what surely took hours of effort; a generated piece of art cannot replicate finding the same wallpaper in the background of every Renoir piece in a room of the Barnes, causing wonder of what that pattern meant to him; an AI piece might capture a yearnful, heart-stinging expression on the face of a crying subject, but it cannot lead you to empathize with the artist, who, to paint such an expression, must have known that pain themselves. With AI, the end result is there, but the art of the process is lost.
In hindsight, this appreciation of art was not so frequently talked about amongst myself and my friends, and it can be argued that the threat of AI has led us to a greater appreciation of the many great artists that there are.
That same sentiment about losing the process applies to essays and handwritten notes and emails. Communication is something that, like art, is inherently human. Years upon years of evolution built up languages across the world as a form of expression, and now, there is a reliance on AI to answer questions. Grammarly, for example, recently debuted an email generator, which can take information such as the recipient, desired tone, and message, to form what it claims to be a “well-written email.” The entire concept of a direct message is ruined; it takes away the personal, human aspect of conversation.
Within school, essays have been the center of discussion when it comes to AI, with new steps in the process added in hopes students will adhere to academic integrity rather than plagiarism. While tedious, the process of writing an essay allows students to apply important cognitive thinking skills, incorporate and build upon strong vocabulary, and synthesize pieces of information, all skills that can later be carried into life when it comes to communication. These are skills that can be applied further in college, personal letters, future projects, and career paths. AI might generate an essay that will let a student score well in the short term, but cutting out the actual analyzing and writing process erases the skills that could be taken away in the long run.
Having these conversations- whether it be with a group of friends or a lecture from your English teacher- is hopefully the positive that the advancement of AI can bring. Recognizing the importance and significance of a handwritten note, a five paragraph essay, or a painting hung on the wall being made through pure human effort without artificial assistance, is going to be the first step in overcoming the threat that AI brings to creativity.
