I have come across a significant amount of negativity and, understandably, fear surrounding AI. While I am terrified of how it can be used by malevolent forces and ill-intentioned people, who can pretty much fuck up your life from one day to another should they want to (language fully measured here), and of course terrified of the outcome in the bigger picture, such as the landscape of our world or our society. In my field of interest, which is music and visuals, I also witness hostility towards anything AI (again, understandably so; something new is always scary). I thought it would be more constructive to get to know the enemy.
Therefore, although I have been using AI for other things, like most of us, I decided to experience it first-hand in the context of my creative projects. We’re still in the early stages of it; maybe not the elite or scientists, but people like me are. Also, it is the feedback coming from someone who is not very technical and tends to skip reading manuals out of impatience and the drive to create as soon as possible, which is probably not a good example and possibly a loss of opportunity to benefit from all the available potential. I learn by doing, and somehow the drive to create pushes me to make it work the way I need it.
Before I digress further, AI, in the context of creativity, is a tool. IT IS STILL AND ONLY A TOOL, and like with all tools, the results will only depend on the work provided behind it. If a creative mind uses AI well and works to produce the best visuals that they can, something beautiful might come out. For example, AI might generate an image or a video; the latter can still be modified and personalised with effects, which is part of humans’ creativity. I hardly keep a generated video as it is; it is quite often not recognisable after modifications or effects were applied to it, and the video is generated out of an idea or a script that we, as humans, come up with. The generating process in itself is still quite hit-and-miss, but by persisting, refining the script, trying different things, being curious, and researching, it’s possible to get positive results. The miss, by the way, can also be hilarious and great fun by being used as potential material for spoofs.
I do remember the days when computers and music software (probably still the case now) were criticised, but I am pretty sure that many musicians or artists appreciate the fact that we no longer need to dream of the day we will have the money to invest in making art, recording music, making a video, or releasing our own work. It gives at least everyone who can afford a computer or a laptop the possibility to create, and despite the flipping side of the coin that the latter may also entail, that is amazing!
The problem or the question, as always with our kind, is choices. We are given power; what will we choose to do with that power? We are given tools; how will we use them? While I don’t hold much hope for our politicians and the entities behind the shitshow that is currently unfolding in front of our eyes, I have faith that the new generations to come and the kids of today will do a better job than we did.
In the field of creativity, in order to get results, especially original ones, like with everything else in life, even with technology, we still have to work behind it; we are still the mind behind it for now. There is no turning back; it is happening, so we can choose to stay behind, terrified and bitter, or we can choose to be curious, research and learn about it, and make conscious choices. A French proverb (if my memory doesn’t fail me) comes to mind: Philippe Néricault Destouches: “Criticism is easy, but art is difficult.” “La critique est aisée, mais l’art est difficile,” which we can apply in so many areas of life.
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