I need to get my thoughts down and organized concerning the use of AI as a tool for generating art, especially because I plan to use it in my creative projects on this blog.
One one hand, I know that Midjourney used art from the internet in its training set without crediting the original artists. That does seem scummy, but what is done is done, and the tool they have now is incredibly useful.
As a creative person, specifically a musician and writer, it does hurt a bit to see people relying on AI written content instead of human content. The music AI still has a ways to go at the time of this writing, but the art and writing AI are pretty dang good right now. Of course, there will only be improvements with time. Video AI is looking like the next big push.
I want artists to receive credit for their work. And I think artists (including writers, authors, painters, digital artists, musicians, videographers, etc.) should be paid for their work when they are working directly with clients or selling their work to the general public.
But we have to face the future.
So, on the other hand, I see AI as a tool. It is a very advanced tool, certainly, but it will not be going away. Therefore we as creators need to adapt.
I’m imagining that in 2040, when AI is about twenty years old (the same age that Facebook is this year), the laws will have adapted around its use. I cannot predict the future, but I can lay out what I hope it will be like.
- Creative works by humans will be more valuable than ever before.
- The stereotype of the “starving artist” exists for a reason. Artists are often underpaid for their work and struggle to get by on their art alone. They often have other jobs. This goes for musicians and authors, too. Some make it big, and when they do, they can make a lot of money. But it still requires a lot of constant work.
- So, if AI in 2040 is commonly used by businesses for consumer purposes like billboards, video ads, and other forms of business media, then by all means, let it be done by AI. Some people enjoy that kind of work, and it will suck for them, but many artists actually want to enjoy creating art that they want to create, not art that a client tells them to create and then redo and then redo again. Any artist knows how difficult it can be working with a client who doesn’t really know what they want.
- This brings me to my point. I can see the value of human-made art and music to be considered even more valuable when the landscape is filled with fake AI graphics and writing, and therefore, the artists and writers that make real art will be paid even more. Human-made art will be like a breath of fresh air in a landscape covered in the smog of AI-generated content.
- There is a caveat to this. Artists will have to be very good at their art to make money. Amateurs and hobbyists will likely not be able to make any type of living wage on their work. As someone who is just a hobbyist, who isn’t currently making any money off of writing or music, acknowledging this fact hurts, but it is also a driving and motivating factor if I allow it to be so.
- AI art and writing will improve efficiency of both creative endeavors and other business projects.
- Timelines to completion of projects are already being greatly reduced, and from what I’ve seen, economic growth is accelerating because of AI becoming integrated into business operations. Everything from writing a professional letter that is then edited by someone in-house, to generating loose ideas for brands that are then refined by a hired graphic artist, to creating storyboards of scenes for books, shows, and movies; work is getting done faster and more efficiently.
- AI in the workplace can be used like we are using it at my current job. We have a new brand coming soon, and the development of the brand image took a few weeks rather than a few months. It would have taken less time if our teams had focused more on it than other tasks, but other business operations have to continue. That does mean that we don’t have a dedicated brand specialist, and we don’t have one specific artist that worked on the final design. Instead, the work was spread among multiple teams and team members who all provided input after being shown the initial AI-generated ideas. Even those ideas went through multiple iterations before arriving at a select few to choose from. Then the idea was refined by our in-house graphics artists and other product development team members, until it was approved by the VP. Truly, we are using AI as a tool, and not as the sole creator.
- All of this leads to faster company growth because it allows more time to be allocated to other expansion projects.
Let me get a bit more idealistic for a moment. I would love it if the following scenario were true in 2040.
- I go to work in the morning and work for five hours (ok, fine, maybe 6 hours). The efficiency of completing tasks has become so great that I can complete a project within a few days if not hours.
- I am paid not by hour, but simply by salary. My salary did not decrease when the 25-hour work week legislation was passed a few years earlier. Instead, because of the sector I work in, my hours were simply reduced while pay stayed the same.
- After work, I go home and I now have most of the day to spend doing what I want: attending my kids’ games, going out with my wife or family, spending the evening cooking dinner and then relaxing with a good movie, or heading to the gym to work on staying healthy. Heck, with three extra hours per day, I could even devote time to improving my skills as a musician or writer, or serving my community, or developing a new skill I never had the time for before (like archery or rock climbing).
- And because I only have to work five hours per day, I can move those hours around as necessary. Perhaps I go to the gym in the morning, then go to work, then come home and still have enough time to relax and live my own damn life (my current frustrations with the 40-hour work week may be showing through right now).
My family would call me liberal for wanting a work week with fewer hours. I also acknowledge that many industries would not be able to accommodate such changes very easily. I’ve not historically been a fan of labor unions, as I believe that they are often abused to take unfair advantage of employers, but they have their place in this situation. Unions would be good for service, medical, education, and other industries to try to get fair compensation for the extra work they would have to provide by working longer hours. Who knows, maybe teachers would finally get paid a decent wage.
That said, by 2040, AI and other advancements will hopefully be implemented in these industries in such a way that they won’t require a full 40 hours or more. I could see education benefiting greatly in particular. Students of any age would be able to learn at their own levels and at their own paces, and not be stuck in the same classes regardless of interests, skills, or capacity.
For example, I could imagine an elementary school that is catered toward helping kids learn about many different things for the first few years, then testing them on their interests and desires and strengths. From that point on into middle school, high school, and college, the kid that decided at ten years of age that she wanted to be a mechanical engineer could receive an education geared toward that future from the moment she decided it.
Yes, that puts pressure on children to choose their futures, and there would certainly need to be accommodations for changing one’s mind. It may well be that that same engineer could decide before starting college that she wants to study electrical engineering instead, or something completely different like business administration. She would make that decision knowing that it would set her back a few years, but it would be her choice, and she would have her years of experience with mechanical engineering to fall back on if needed.
And if someone wants to be a jack of all trades instead and learn about many different topics, they could do that throughout their entire schooling and even into college. It would be like attempting to multi-class in D&D. It doesn’t always provide the best results, but there are certain situations where having some knowledge or ability in various skills would be beneficial, or even advantageous, compared to specialization.
Basically, whether a child wants to specialize or go broad with their education, AI would facilitate that decision. Teachers would become Facilitators and Advisors, there to help students on their education pathways, without having to become babysitters. These facilitators could even be specialized themselves like professors are now, but they would guide a student as their advisor through many years up to graduation, possibly even into a doctorate degree.
But I’ve digressed quite a bit.
The future is unknown only insofar as we have not decided what it should be. AI doesn’t have to be the death of human creativity. It can and should be a tool to help us to “go confidently in the direction of [our] dreams and live the life [we] imagined”. I believe AI and other upcoming innovations can help the human race take more time to be human. By allowing machines to do work for us, we can start to fill the measure of our lives, serving others, learning and growing, enjoying family time, taking up hobbies, worshiping God, advancing civilization and innovation, and creating in ways we never have before.
But we’ll have to get the corporations to agree, and that is not likely to happen.
-Zed