I consider myself an AI enthusiast, someone who is constantly dabbling with AI, trying to figure out how AI will truly benefit in areas like healthcare, financial investing, business problem solving, and also the publishing industry. But lately, I’ve started to think a lot about the underbelly of AI. The potential hazard that we humans are very likely to ignore while we get swept away in the AI euphoria. What’s worse? I don’t see a solution in the near future. And, that’s a scary thought.
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Let’s think about what makes us humans special – it’s our curiosity, our love for trying new things, and our ability to come up with clever ideas, even if they seem random. These are the things that make us stand out, that make us different from machines. Our ability to fail, make mistakes, learn, rebuild, and innovate makes us special. But with all the excitement about AI making things faster and easier, I worry we might be losing some of what makes us special. We’re so focused on finding quick solutions that we forget to use our imagination. We’re giving up our creativity to make things more convenient. It’s what fast food did to us, the health hazards were only realized after decades of unhealthy eating and we continue to pay the price.
Will the quest to get more things done in less time lead to the same trap? Will AI make machines out of humans?
I’ve noticed students using AI to do their homework instead of figuring it out themselves. It might save time, but what about the fun of solving problems on your own? What about learning from mistakes? And it’s not just students – even professionals are lapping up AI tools to whip out presentations and creatives that save a lot of time but also look the same and lack ingenuity, depth, and most importantly, their personality.
Am I just being too paranoid? Or have I stumbled upon the future that’s starting to take a scary twist?
We’re at risk of forming a giant AI bubble, where the same ideas, thoughts, recommendations, and solutions are being churned out by machines in different formats and forms, building an echo chamber that stifles innovation and creativity. Heck! I also bumped into an AI-powered cooking appliance that will cook food for you, with precise measurements of ingredients. So each time you make that pav bhaji or biryani, it will taste exactly the same, “Say hello to your personalized, all-in-one AI cooking assistant with 500+ recipes,” it said. We’re at it and how!
After experimenting with 4-5 different generative AI models, I noticed that they were producing eerily similar image outputs in response to varied versions of essentially the same prompt. The prospect of factories filled with AI experts and data scientists, churning out models based on existing data, but devoid of new ideas, is a bleak one. It’s a future at risk of being devoid of the creative spark that once drove human innovation. The implications are far-reaching and unsettling.
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As AI models become increasingly adept at generating content, solving problems, and even creating art, the question arises: what role will human creatives play in the fast approaching AI-first world?
Am I just being too paranoid? Or, have I stumbled upon the future that’s starting to take a scary twist? What are your thoughts on the danger of the death of creativity in pursuit of AI automation and instant results? I am sure, there’s a balance somewhere that can ensure we have our cake and eat it too. But, what’s that tipping point? I’d love to hear your thoughts, the contrarian the better.
This column was originally published in the May 2024 issue of Digit magazine. Subscribe now.
