AI – Not Just a Long Movie Anymore

“David” and “Teddy” from the 2001 movie A. I. Artificial Intelligence

I’ve put off addressing this issue for a long time, mostly because I have to sit and think through it. (Yes, that’s present tense because it won’t be a “one & done” thought.) Nearly EVERYONE is debating this topic right now, and for all kinds of reasons and addressing all kinds of repercussions, and just like the computer, no matter how bad its programming, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

If you haven’t heard about any of this recently, you must be living under a rock. Or in northern Alaska.(Which, quite frankly, I’m starting to think is a fantastic idea, especially now that I’m getting older. I used to want to move to the desert.)

First and foremost, I’ll state the obvious: I don’t use AI to write anything–not my stories, not my articles. I don’t even use AI prompts or story summaries. I don’t even use Grammarly to check word usage/sentence structure/etc. The most sophisticated tool I use is the Spelling/Grammar check in my word processing software, and even the grammar part gets tiresome because I write dialogue that’s off on purpose and I’d rather not let the program “learn” the bad grammar, so I have to hit “Ignore” every time. Everything I’ve written has come from my own brain, though my influences are everywhere (show me a fantasy writer who claims to have come up with it whole-cloth and I’ll show you a liar).

I refuse to use AI to write anything for me, and shall always do so. It’s probably the only thing I am in agreement in which I agree with the Writers’s Guild of America currently on strike in California (ironically, they could use AI’s help, considering how awful the plots of movies are as of late.)

I’m stubborn that way.

I guess some of us will start to label our stories “100% A.I.-Free”. In fact, I think I’d do it now, except:

I DO use AI to create images for my covers, which is where some of my deeper cogitation is happening. I am an artist myself, and have painted portraits and landscapes and sold my work through galleries. My problem is (and, if it sounds like a justification, it is) I don’t have the time to paint all the covers I need for my stories, and I would be the one doing the work of painting and designing the cover, so at this point the AI is only really replacing me. I do plan, once my titles have earned sufficient funds, to commission covers for the future title releases and give the work to some budding artists. Maybe I’d even get a painter/graphic artist team to do the whole cover. With the caveat of not using AI, of course.

There’s also the issue of AI “learning”. Each program of AI uses a vast library artwork to which it has access to “learn” from, and here’s where a deeper creative controversy starts. Is it actually using bits and pieces of others’ artwork, or is it learning from the elements and creating something entirely new? If it’s using copyrighted work and just stamping it into the final product, that’s an issue. However, if it’s merely “learning” from a style, then it wouldn’t be a big deal. For example, artists (myself included) learn painting by mimicking the styles of other artists, and may even try to emulate famous paintings to connect with their process* so we are essentially learning from the works that came before us, shortening the learning curve. I’m not sure what’s happening with it just yet, and frankly I don’t think anyone is sure, because the different AI programs behave differently.

On the writing side of it, we learn by writing and reading, so will that be a possibility? Of course. A huge problem I see comes from writers who generate AI text and use it AS IS and think somehow that makes them a better writer. It’s akin to using a calculator or a spreadsheet formula for all the figuring and saying it makes you better at math. (I’d quote the guy who said it makes him a better writer but I’d rather not direct anyone to his site and be accused of harassing him. I just unsubscribed from his newsletter and won’t read anything “written by” him again.)

As a creative, I can’t decry AI as all bad, yet. Is it possible that AI will replace all human creativity? Yes, but I would add the caveat “new” creativity. It also poses new questions. AI’s basis may seem infinite, and the possibilities of it creating “new” out of what humans taught it, if humans relegate all their creativity to the machines, then the pool of novelty will eventually dry up, even if they are recycling their own (A.I.’s own) work. It may not be in a human lifetime, and that’s probably good enough for some.

It also brings up the point about what makes us human. For me, it will always be that we have souls, but others will argue that AIs demonstrate they have a soul because they can create. Is it creating? Or is it just a very good mimic**?

Like books, where digital copies haven’t completely replaced the physical, and indeed most of us love our home libraries and the feel and smell of old tomes. Will AI writers remain novel (no pun intended)? Possibly. Then again with the dearth of good writing, people may embrace the stories coming from AI based solely on what they feel like reading/watching*** at the time. Example: “I want to watch a movie where Genghis Khan battles an army of anthropomorphized rabbits with modern weapons in order to claim the deed to the floating chocolate castle realm.” Ridiculous, yes, but AI will probably be catering to all kinds.

Bottom line, or the modern TL;DR is that AI is a tool, albeit an incredibly sophisticated one, that can be used for good or evil. It’s really just going to come down to who is programming it and who is using it. But, it behooves us all to keep an eye on it, and keep thinking about it. As long as it’s around, it’s going to generate questions of deep-delving fractal proportions.

*Not quite the same as forgery, although if you’re good enough and can pass it off and try to, you’ve just walked into felonious territory, my friend.

**For the record, I don’t buy that they have souls, but I will say that AI can mimic like nothing before it. And mimics aren’t necessarily some force of good. You TTRPG players know what I’m talking about, and if you don’t, well, you can go check it out here.

***Yes, there are shows and movies being generated by AI now as well.