It’s funny what difference a couple of decades can make. If anyone told you at the start of the millennium that the future of art and design would be led by Artificial Intelligence – you’d think they were regurgitating the script from a futurist sci-fi movie.
But the truth is, the prospect of AI shaping the way we approach creativity in 2023 couldn’t be any more realistic.
So what does all of this mean for the future of our industry?
Human territory
For some time now, the artistic world has remained the final untouched parameter of artificial intelligence. I mean, how dare us creatives let a bunch of machines crash the party. Nevertheless, as technological advancements have become increasingly unavoidable, so has AI’s marriage with arts and creative spaces.
A sense of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” if you will.
Despite seeing a seismic shift in recent months, the influx of AI has been a relatively gradual process. The metaverse has been dipping its toes into the world of gaming for some time now – so this major shift should come as little surprise to those that have had their fingers on the pulse.
Can AI truly be a creative force in our world though? Or is it just another flash-in-the-pan trend?
Two things can always co-exist. In which case, the answer is both yes and no.
Let’s look at the no first.
At present, artificial intelligence can only make decisions based on pre-set data. Simply put, AI can’t go beyond the parameters of what it’s already been programmed to do. With Strong/General AI ever-growing, the concept of machines replicating similar thought processes as humans isn’t too much of an alien concept, for want of a better term.
We are where we are now though, and we’re not quite there just yet.
No looking back now
On the flipside, Artificial Intelligence has already shown many tangible “human” qualities that were only imaginable just a few years ago. Look no further than the astronomical rise of ChatGPT.
If by some miracle you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months – here’s all you need to know on the latest tech phenomenon:
ChatGPT is an AI Chatbot developed by Open AI. In essence, it’s a simulated Chatbot that was primarily used for automated customer service responses in its first incarnation. But as we know now, it’s adopted a life of its own.
ChatGPT isn’t the be all and end all of Artificial Intelligence though. Let’s face it, we’ve been living in parallel with AI for quite a few years already. Whether it’s Spotify telling us what music we’ll like, Netflix informing us of what we might want to watch – or even our favourite online shops suggesting outfits for us to buy.
Even if they don’t realise it, some generations have spent more of their lives with AI in some capacity than without it.
Technology wAIts for no one
Deny it, hide from it, laugh it off – it doesn’t really matter. Artificial intelligence is very much here to stay in the creative world. Of course, there are limitations, with it generally still being a component used at the end of the creative journey as opposed to acting as a spark.
Where do we go from here then?
As its capabilities continue to grow, so will its influence. In the meantime, embrace it, learn from it, and use it as a tool to help us work smarter not harder. We might as well – it’s certainly here to stay.