It Truly Persists
On Creativity and Artificial Intelligence
I'm not very tech-savvy. I keep my electronic devices until they're nearly obsolete. I'm late to trendy apps or memes. Technology doesn't interest me much, but I can't help but be intrigued by the growing popularity of artificial intelligence. As someone who works in school libraries and follows many educators and librarians online, I see question after question being raised by those creators about how AI will be used in the classroom and library. How will it affect student research or writing? How will it be harnessed to affect student growth? Those are important questions, but I'm most curious about how AI will affect creativity.
Creativity is central to my identity, and I use different things to express myself, such as writing, makeup, clothing, and decor. For the past 20 years, writing poetry has been one of my most significant sources of creativity. Yesterday, I spent time going through poems I wrote about 10-15 years ago. I read through many of them, and only a couple showcase good writing, but reading those poems gave me a glimpse of who I was in my 20s. I've learned a lot about form and revision in the years since. Those poems I reviewed won't make it out into the world, but they mean something to me because I created them. They reminded me who I was and what I thought about at the time in my life when I wrote them. They’re artifacts of who I used to be.
Though it can be romanticized, writing is hard work. I can write thousands of words and end up with a few excellent sentences in the end. I can write ten poems and end up with one or two worth publishing. Even though the output will always be greater than the final result in writing, that process is critical to growth and understanding. Editing, research, and revision are some of the ways I have grown not just as a writer but as a person.
As I thought about the connection (or the lack thereof) between creativity and AI, I decided to have ChatGPT write me a poem about artificial intelligence and creativity. Here's the result:
In a world of endless possibilities, we find,
A marvel of innovation, one of a kind.
Artificial intelligence, a wondrous creation,
Unleashing potential, a new foundation.
With algorithms and data, it learns and grows,
Unraveling mysteries, the world it knows.
From self-driving cars to virtual assistants,
AI's presence in our lives, it truly persists.
In healthcare, it aids with diagnoses precise,
Detecting diseases, offering advice.
In finance, it predicts market trends,
Helping investors make wise amends.
But with great power comes great responsibility,
Ethics and privacy, a necessity.
We must ensure AI's used for good,
Benefiting all, as it surely should.
Yet, fears arise of a future unknown,
Will AI replace us, leave us alone?
But let us remember, it's a tool we wield,
To enhance our lives, not to be concealed.
So let us embrace this technological stride,
Harnessing AI's potential far and wide.
With human ingenuity and AI's might,
Together we'll shape a future so bright.
It’s not exactly Mary Oliver, is it? The poem is just an advertisement for the good AI can bring that happened to quote a Spiderman movie.
I'd lose so much if I outsourced or gave up on my creative practices. Doing creative work like writing, painting, or designing is important, but revision is, too. I wish I could enter a prompt, click a couple of buttons, and end up with beautifully crafted work that represents who I am, but it doesn't work like that. Writing shows us who we are and what we hold dear. Editing reminds me of carving; something beautiful is possible, but you have to do a lot of shaping and cutting to create it. Our humanity is critical to creating beautiful art that reveals truths about the world and our place in it.
Who knows what the future holds for AI? I'm sure there are many ways in which it's beneficial, but it won't ever be able to pen a sonnet like John Donne. It won't be able to craft a sentence like James Baldwin. It won't be able to do the work only you and I can do. The world needs more art, and we need to make it. Creativity is healing and empowering. It helps us become the best versions of ourselves, and that's always worth celebrating.
One of my favorite creative exercises is blackout poetry, so I'll wrap up this post with my blackout version of the ChatGPT poem above:
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The blackout poem is far better than the AI original!
😍
That AI poem is laugh out loud bad. I think ai could replace advertisers. Ads, not all but many, are so bad but the feeling I get when I read a sentence like this “When you say you experience my writing as sacred what you are touching is the divine place within me that is my mother. Sugar is the temple I built in my obliterated place.” That to me is soul touching soul and I don’t think AI can replace that.