Is originality in danger of becoming extinct? That’s the disturbing thought on my mind this week. With the advent of AI-powered tools that are meant to aid creativity not kill it, will we exert our brains as much as needed to produce content, works of art, solutions that are truly original and unique? If we aren’t original in our output, how will we stand out and make an impact to create a stellar personal brand?
I could head over to ChatGPT and put in the prompt: Write me a 1000 word essay on Originality. Within seconds, the essay will be generated. Newsletter done. I can then change the prompt: Write me a 1000 word essay on Originality in the style of Steve Jobs. Out comes the essay peppered with examples from Apple. Then I could prompt: Write me a haiku on the importance of originality.
Originality,
A key to creativity,
Stand out, be unique.
You see what I mean? The tools are so easily at our disposal now. In many cases they do the job for us. We don’t have to do much more.
What will then prevent us from turning to these tools every single time we need to produce something original?
Do we believe that the tools will give us ideas we can enhance?
Or do we believe they will be stealing our true creativity?
It’s quite easy to convince ourselves that AI is only augmented intelligence, they key word being augmented. While I buy the logic of AI only aiding us in broadening our creativity, reducing the time taken to develop ideas and allowing deeper investigation of our thoughts through the right prompts and the ability to access vast swathes of knowledge, I am worried that our generation as well as future generations may stop indulging in the activities that are essential to original thought.
What are those activities to fill your mind with stimulus?
Reading.
Indulging in new experiences.
Learning new hobbies.
Keeping a journal.
Visiting new places.
Experimentation.
Daydreaming.
Persistence.
Stamina
Willingness to embrace failure.
And so many more.
I’m undecided on the impact that AI is going to have on creativity and whether it is going to fully rob us of our originality or not.
In the meantime, I am going to double down on activities that fill my mind with stimulus lest I start to get lazy and turn to ChatGPT more often than I should.
Over to you now:
How have AI-powered tools impacted your ability to generate ideas?
What do you believe AI will do to the future of creativity?
What are you most excited about when it comes to AI? What do you for the most?