The biggest story of the year — the story we should all be paying attention to — is the increasing power of artificial intelligence. Computer code can write itself, chatbots can generate academic papers, and, with a few keystrokes, a website can produce an image worthy to be framed on any wall. Everywhere we turn, AI is outputting text and images that mimic (and often surpass) humans’ abilities.
There’s so much to be concerned about in these developments, especially in the realms of plagiarism and labor replacement, with artists and writers particularly worried about their job prospects drowning in the infinite sea of AI-generated graphics and essays.
However, after taking stock of AI’s current limitations, I don’t think that artists and other creatives are in danger of extinction anytime soon. To my mind — and to many theorists, critics and media lovers — the most compelling artistic expressions contain some sort of original idea that reflects a lived human experience, and contemporary AI models lack exactly this capacity. In short: Even if AI bots can create passable text blocks and captivating graphic designs, they cannot fabricate the sort of genuine art that speaks to our humanity.
