GenAi and the obliteration of creativeness .
It’s no secret that GenAI has become the brand new fad in the world, you can’t go 10 minutes without an AI ad, someone posting AI art, AI videos and clips.
To the average person this all sounds like a brand new shiny toy, you can put words in the box and magic happens where it produces a text, an image or a video.
For better or worse, i’m not the average person, i’m a chronically online unmedicated ADHD adult with a penchant for creative work, and when I see a so called tool that was raised on stolen, uncredited, unpaid for work from hundreds of thousands of artists it sure as fuck becomes the number 1 thing i detest.
Most of all, beyond just the clear theft that these companies have gotten away with and even monetized, what breaks my heart and destroys any form of potentially being okay with this tool is what it wants to do to the creative process of everyone.
Unlike traditional tools, GenAi doesn’t actually teach you anything. You see, when one begins their artistic journey, whether its writing, drawing, video production, music, there are tools by which you learn how to do things. You learn how to write prose, you learn how to do perspectives, you learn how to cut audio, you learn how to mix audio.
This is because you have to first try what you want and fail, and then fail again, and again, and by the 4th or 5th time you’ll finally have something you can be ok with. But to call them failures is wrong, you aren’t failing at anything, you’re learning how things work, how things can be done and what looks, sounds or feels the best to you.
That process right there, that's the creative process every person can do. It’s how you get better at something sure, but it’s also how you connect with your humanity. Throughout history there has always been 1 positive constant between all humans and that is art.
We have so many records from even millions of years before our time that show us the distinctive traits that we have above other animals, our ability to create art is that.
To me, art is the ultimate human expression, it requires no words, no languages, all it asks for you to connect with it is that you can look upon it and draw your own feelings from it. Art is created by emotions, to elicit emotions from others, because of the work that was put into it, not just because there was a wanting to create an image.
What GenAi does is to replace that process, to replace the emotions, the friction of learning, the joy of discovery and the ultimate satisfaction of final work.
Within writing, which is more of my field than other arts, the basis of a story can often be referred to the usage of “The Hero’s journey”. It is here that I want to highlight why the usage of GenAi is damaging to art.
As we mentioned before AI replaces the entire creative process in favor of just giving the final step of a finished product.
Think of “The Hero’s journey” here, if we removed everything between his start and his victory, would the story be as satisfying? Sure we can embellish things and make it readable, but what is there for the readers to become interested in? Our hero is just this perfect being that never struggles, always has the final correct answer at every moment, never has to lose, to deal with grief and loss and friction setting him back on his journey.
He would never have to rely on others, he wouldn't have need of a teacher, he wouldn’t have to meet his party that becomes his friends or his loved ones.
This proverbial hero becomes, in essence, isolated. They are turned, not into a story of the indomitable human spirit and how to persevere, how to connect with other people but instead he just simply is, and always has been, the greatest hero and nothing can challenge that.
So how does this relate to GenAI then? well think of what it takes and what it gives. With this AI, to “Create” something, all you do is set parameters, you create a checklist that you want and presto out comes slobbering a regurgitation of millions of online data mashed up into one.
It lacks everything that there needs to be for it to be called “Art”, it doesn’t deserve the title of “AI art” because there is nothing artistic about it as a whole. There was no emotion used to create this, there was no uniqueness that comes from imperfect strokes or color works or particular writing tics.
But most of all, there was no friction or opposition. You didn’t have to spend your time fussing about a detail you noticed that others won’t, you didnt pour your soul, your blood, your tears and your sweat into it.
When I look at art from friends, from known artists, the reason I can tell their styles apart isn’t because they look different. It’s because I can see their soul reflected in that work. I can see the hours put into their craft, I can tell their small imperfections that they worked around, most of all I can feel the passion.
To those of us who are vehemently against this tool, when we look at these generated images, the visceral reaction we all have comes from the uncanny feeling that this work is an amalgamation and a perversion of others works, of others peoples very own souls.
By losing this creative process, we aren’t just being more productive, we’re losing what makes us distinguishable from animals and machines.
Maybe it is exaggerated, maybe I’m fighting a war against a machine that will ultimately win and permeate as many aspects of life as it can.
I’m one man in a sea of billions, but I do not believe I should compromise my beliefs for the general perception. To do that would be to give up on everything that makes me who I am, both good and bad.
I don’t want to live in a world of hate, where art becomes a product of mass production tied to a subscription for an AI company. I want to create a world where every person can be allowed to explore their creative endeavours with no barriers to hinder that.
Art is and always will be, the core of the human soul. The only barrier that art has, is yourself. We have created works of incredible skill for thousands of years if not more, but we’ve also had works that are more personal, maybe not as aesthetically pleasing to some, but they are still art. Whether its a scribble on a page or the mona lisa in the louvre, art is the one thing that makes us all equal in a world hell bent on inequality.
GenAI will take that from you if you let it, so instead, go out and meet people, share your emotions with art, share your love, your fears, your joy and your anxieties. But never let the fire that propels you forward die out just because people tell you something is faster and easier than what you do.
We don’t create art because it’s easy, we do it in spite of how difficult it can be.
To the average person this all sounds like a brand new shiny toy, you can put words in the box and magic happens where it produces a text, an image or a video.
For better or worse, i’m not the average person, i’m a chronically online unmedicated ADHD adult with a penchant for creative work, and when I see a so called tool that was raised on stolen, uncredited, unpaid for work from hundreds of thousands of artists it sure as fuck becomes the number 1 thing i detest.
Most of all, beyond just the clear theft that these companies have gotten away with and even monetized, what breaks my heart and destroys any form of potentially being okay with this tool is what it wants to do to the creative process of everyone.
Unlike traditional tools, GenAi doesn’t actually teach you anything. You see, when one begins their artistic journey, whether its writing, drawing, video production, music, there are tools by which you learn how to do things. You learn how to write prose, you learn how to do perspectives, you learn how to cut audio, you learn how to mix audio.
This is because you have to first try what you want and fail, and then fail again, and again, and by the 4th or 5th time you’ll finally have something you can be ok with. But to call them failures is wrong, you aren’t failing at anything, you’re learning how things work, how things can be done and what looks, sounds or feels the best to you.
That process right there, that's the creative process every person can do. It’s how you get better at something sure, but it’s also how you connect with your humanity. Throughout history there has always been 1 positive constant between all humans and that is art.
We have so many records from even millions of years before our time that show us the distinctive traits that we have above other animals, our ability to create art is that.
To me, art is the ultimate human expression, it requires no words, no languages, all it asks for you to connect with it is that you can look upon it and draw your own feelings from it. Art is created by emotions, to elicit emotions from others, because of the work that was put into it, not just because there was a wanting to create an image.
What GenAi does is to replace that process, to replace the emotions, the friction of learning, the joy of discovery and the ultimate satisfaction of final work.
Within writing, which is more of my field than other arts, the basis of a story can often be referred to the usage of “The Hero’s journey”. It is here that I want to highlight why the usage of GenAi is damaging to art.
As we mentioned before AI replaces the entire creative process in favor of just giving the final step of a finished product.
Think of “The Hero’s journey” here, if we removed everything between his start and his victory, would the story be as satisfying? Sure we can embellish things and make it readable, but what is there for the readers to become interested in? Our hero is just this perfect being that never struggles, always has the final correct answer at every moment, never has to lose, to deal with grief and loss and friction setting him back on his journey.
He would never have to rely on others, he wouldn't have need of a teacher, he wouldn’t have to meet his party that becomes his friends or his loved ones.
This proverbial hero becomes, in essence, isolated. They are turned, not into a story of the indomitable human spirit and how to persevere, how to connect with other people but instead he just simply is, and always has been, the greatest hero and nothing can challenge that.
So how does this relate to GenAI then? well think of what it takes and what it gives. With this AI, to “Create” something, all you do is set parameters, you create a checklist that you want and presto out comes slobbering a regurgitation of millions of online data mashed up into one.
It lacks everything that there needs to be for it to be called “Art”, it doesn’t deserve the title of “AI art” because there is nothing artistic about it as a whole. There was no emotion used to create this, there was no uniqueness that comes from imperfect strokes or color works or particular writing tics.
But most of all, there was no friction or opposition. You didn’t have to spend your time fussing about a detail you noticed that others won’t, you didnt pour your soul, your blood, your tears and your sweat into it.
When I look at art from friends, from known artists, the reason I can tell their styles apart isn’t because they look different. It’s because I can see their soul reflected in that work. I can see the hours put into their craft, I can tell their small imperfections that they worked around, most of all I can feel the passion.
To those of us who are vehemently against this tool, when we look at these generated images, the visceral reaction we all have comes from the uncanny feeling that this work is an amalgamation and a perversion of others works, of others peoples very own souls.
By losing this creative process, we aren’t just being more productive, we’re losing what makes us distinguishable from animals and machines.
Maybe it is exaggerated, maybe I’m fighting a war against a machine that will ultimately win and permeate as many aspects of life as it can.
I’m one man in a sea of billions, but I do not believe I should compromise my beliefs for the general perception. To do that would be to give up on everything that makes me who I am, both good and bad.
I don’t want to live in a world of hate, where art becomes a product of mass production tied to a subscription for an AI company. I want to create a world where every person can be allowed to explore their creative endeavours with no barriers to hinder that.
Art is and always will be, the core of the human soul. The only barrier that art has, is yourself. We have created works of incredible skill for thousands of years if not more, but we’ve also had works that are more personal, maybe not as aesthetically pleasing to some, but they are still art. Whether its a scribble on a page or the mona lisa in the louvre, art is the one thing that makes us all equal in a world hell bent on inequality.
GenAI will take that from you if you let it, so instead, go out and meet people, share your emotions with art, share your love, your fears, your joy and your anxieties. But never let the fire that propels you forward die out just because people tell you something is faster and easier than what you do.
We don’t create art because it’s easy, we do it in spite of how difficult it can be.
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