AI and the Future of Work

Artificial Intelligence is our latest guest, especially as creatives. How do we welcome it? How do we live with it? Is it for better or for worse?

Like many other creators, I was very intrigued by the conversation around artificial intelligence. What it means for the work we do, how we do it, and consequently the future of work in the age of AI.

As a perpetually curious person, I went out to try it. I wrote articles on ChatGPT and Perplexity.ai, edited them with the AI-improved version of the grammar check software I used before, created AI imagery to follow the posts, created a website with AI, and, in the future, purposed to review to see what I thought about it all.

Well, this was some few months ago and now after looking through the work I did with AI, I have a few points to write home about. I have answered some questions that were posed by AI at the beginning of this exercise, and others that I came up with myself.

Some of the questions I posed at the start include:

1. What challenges might arise in maintaining the authenticity and emotional depth of creative works when AI is involved, and how can these challenges be addressed?
2. In fields like filmmaking and music composition, how can AI contribute to the production process without compromising the distinct personal style and expression of human creators?
3. In user interface and experience design, how can AI be employed to enhance interactions and aesthetics while maintaining a balance that resonates with human emotions and perceptions?
4. In the endless churning of content through resilient and versatile AI systems, are there facets that we will have to let go of? If yes, what parts are these and why?
5. Is there going to come a time when the human touch is a cutting-edge quality for human creators who stay in the game, or will it also be integrated into the system?

Upon review of my own work with AI, which I understand is not in any way or form representative of the collective, here are some thoughts.

a) AI still has a long way to go before it can ultimately replace humans fully in the creative industry. It is reliant on data, and it can only put together the morsels we offer as samples. For us, our expression and understanding of human nature stem from the nuanced and contextualized ways in which we see the world.

b) The consumers are humans, and very many interact with creative expression for the reason that they understand and totally relate to the emotionality of it. By taking out the emotional bit, we leave empty words, interfaces, beats, and images that do not exactly quench the thirst we sought to quench through art.

c) Instead of overhauling the entire process, AI can come in handy in taking off the parts of it that we do not exactly enjoy and are impersonalized. By outsourcing the ideation part and rephrasing and rewording it to fit particular contexts, we are capable of facilitating more collective change in how we work.

d) It is notable that some art we make is not for profit (if it so does, well and good), but for healing, self-understanding, and self-actualization. Even if we try to beat around the bush for a simplified way to heal, find, and understand ourselves, we have to do the work. So, unless policy prohibits the creation of art, we will always make it. Whether it commercializes or not, art will remain.

As I enter the new year, I am grateful to myself for having sought to understand the impact of AI on how we work as creators. I am glad to know that there is a spark of connection and human touch that we share through our writing, designing, singing, and whatever else we do as humans.

As a creative, what is your take on AI in the current and future landscape of work?

How do you intend to navigate it?

Do you incorporate it into your work? If yes, how? If not, why?

Share your thoughts with me, and let’s keep this discussion going.