I have been thinking more about AI art recently. And, no, my stance hasn’t really changed on it. I still think artificial intelligence takes too much away from both the creator and the audience; I still think art is only art when and if it focuses on the human condition, communication, and connection (and obviously AI is not truly capable of connecting on an emotional, spiritual, or physical level with an audience); and I still think AI is out to get me and the very few remaining things I manage to enjoy about being stuck as a human on this planet.
But I am having trouble being outraged about AI programs using existing art to create their own. Again, I’m generally outraged that AI is making artwork at all when the more logical conclusion for a functioning society would be to make the machines work and leave the humans free to create—but when you really stop to think about it, aren’t all artists using each other’s work as inspiration or as a foundation for our own?
One need only look at the studies surrounding basic plots to see that complete and total originality is dead, and some of you may already know my greatest writing fear is the unwitting plagiarism of better writers than me. On a psychological level, we all carry around the stories we’ve heard, or read, or viewed on a screen, and regurgitate them in some way or other when we create our own works and worlds—whether we are even aware this is happening or not. My own novel The Wishtalker, for instance, was originally inspired by the music from a long-lost Las Vegas show called EFX—with a twist of the 90s fantasy film The Pagemaster and hints of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe thrown in. I could point you to several different modern works of fiction and / or cinema that are based on fairy tales. And need I mention the “Our two houses are at war, and I know you’re dangerous, but I’m also falling in love with you” romantasy plot line that now has me immediately putting the book down once I’ve read the synopsis? In the sense of humans always incestuously taking inspiration and copycatting other people’s works here and there, why would AI be any different? And how could we rightfully be mad at AI for not being any different?
The key distinction between art created by human beings and art created by artificial intelligence is that humans also have our own personal experiences and perspectives to add to the mix, whereas a machine does not. We can emulate powerful feelings in our work because we ourselves have felt said feelings, and we can create well-rounded characters by gifting them a shred of our own personalities and memories. Our brains may be an organic computer that stores information and twists it into other shapes and forms, but it’s still that ability to connect and empathize with each other at the heart of things that sets us–and our artwork–apart. And I am still sad and anxious about the possibility of losing that if AI goes much further than it already has.
Night Owls, what works have inspired your stories? Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts on existing art always being a foundation for our own? Why?
