Creatives are feeling threatened by artificial intelligence.

Twitter recently went wild with buzz about the “sudden” rise of tools that can write believable blog posts, win art contests, and craft code. But this wasn’t sudden. This technology has been under development for decades.

It’s just the creative’s turn to begin feeling its effects.

Artificially intelligent creative tools — and, arguably, intelligent creators — are powerful, useful, and evolving quicker than any other creative technology ever has.

It’s evolving in a way that might echo advances of the past, but the sound is still distinct.

There have been tremendous bounds in photography/videography technology throughout the decades, for example. There were cries then that workers would become obsolete. While some did meet the fate of obsoletion, the photography/videography industry as a whole grew and benefitted from better technologies that were often cheaper per pixel.

Artificial intelligence makes some creatives shake because it seems both intelligent and creative at the same time.

A.I. seems more carnivorous, and it’s hungry for us. A new camera doesn’t take a job…it takes a human (unless, of course, it’s programmed to be artificially intelligent). Generally, it’s a new tool. And humans are good at tools.

Right now, creative artificial intelligence is another creative tool.

But A.I. doesn’t feel like a tool. It feels smarter than us and a threat to our creative security. Maybe one of the only things that feels worse than being obsolete is thinking you’re obsolete before you actually are.

Creatives are not obsolete, because creativity is worth, well, something.

Creativity has always been priced incorrectly. Besides, the majority of creative people who get hired for creative jobs don’t seem to be able to use their true creative skills at work anyways. (Might be different for people who get commissioned as artists.)

Actually, we shouldn’t be that surprised if the commercial value of creativity remains relatively unchanged even as creative A.I. floods the scene. Businesses might hire creatives, but what they’re not buying their skills, per se. They’re hunting for people who could save them time in the creative process in hopes that they find more profit.

Commercial work often feels like a treadmill anyways. So maybe A.I. can help the runner (the creative) a more efficient runner?

We have less control over artificially intelligent creative tools than over others.

But that lack of control shouldn’t lead to despair. I’m hoping it leads to more inspiration. How can we get the most out of these tools? As we become more integrated with them, how can we influence them with more of us? And us with more of them?

While the tech has been under development for awhile now, we’re still in the earliest phases of its evolution. That means we can evolve with it, and craft some of the best work of our life.

Aye, I’m Jay. You’re on my personal site where I post things I make about interrupting mass incarceration, protecting migration, environmental justice & sustainability, language, communications, storytelling, creativity, and tech.

Learn about my ventures here, check out my non-profit initiative here, or explore my consultant services here.

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