Unleashing Creativity: How direct AI interaction with ChatGPT enhances, not replaces, our abilities

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have been around for years, though the majority of people are likely unaware they’ve probably been using it without realizing it.?I will risk saying that our engagement with AI technologies has been mostly tangential during the course of our user experience, especially with the advent of cloud-based applications.?I know I’ve been using AI indirectly for years (and sometimes not), but that indirect use is becoming much more frequent and common place, and will only continue to increase in the years to come. All that said… something in the background labs of certain industry knowers has recently surfaced… and it’s a game changer!?Of course, I’m talking about the recent release of ChatGPT!

What I’m going focus on for now is how direct interaction platforms like ChatGPT and Midjourney / Discord, etc., and other similar platforms like these have made their way into the mainstream.?Until recently, direct interaction with AI was not something I would call commonplace. However, these platforms put Interactive AI in the path of the average person and their experience.?Today, if you want to, ChatGPT can be used to help formulate or answer questions. It can also provide the framework for a book or virtually limitless other opportunities bounded only by its limitations and your imagination. This is because it uses a natural language text interpreter.?However, there’s one thing it doesn’t do: it doesn’t kill or replace our creative spirit, unless we allow it.

I remember a time many years ago when a friend said to me “the day I see a cat open a door, I’m leaving the planet!”.?Well… just last week, I watched a YouTube video of cat moving a box to a better position to enable it to more easily reach the door handle, slip a paw between the door and the jamb and then… voila… the cat opened the door and walked through… it was probably a well-trained cat, but you get the point.?Learning and adaptability are a part of the planetary evolutionary process and some species are better at it than others.?The point here is that change is inevitable.?It’s what change brings, how we embrace and adapt to change that’s significant.

My mind has been working non-stop with application and use case opportunities for these technological… hmmm… the right metaphor… marvels seem so simplistic… how about “civilization changing milestones”.?Yep… that’s right… it’s a brand-new world, just like it was when: we started cooking with fire, using wired and wireless communication (I’m talking Marconi type wireless), we embraced the invention of the Gutenberg press and the Industrial Revolution.?We’re witnessing that level of civilization changing transformational disruption.?How we embrace and leverage this disruption to our status quo though, is up to us.?I won’t go into the debate about its use for good vs… well, the alternative, but rather, how people are facing into the change impact and what it means to them.

Many have speculated that it will replace Google.?I don’t think so, but I do think it’s likely to force Google (and other technology wizards) to tip their hand, sooner than later regarding their AI/ML technology developments, achievements, strategic direction and follow on accessibility.?If they’re slow or reticent to present them… well, that’s an ‘adapt or die’ type discussion that I’m sure is happening in many boardrooms right now. At a smaller scale, many individuals seem to be postulating, or flat out stating their fear about the end of their chosen career because they expect they’ll soon to be replaced by some BOT.?

The truth is, these technologies enhance and scale our ability to do our jobs more creatively and effectively.?The important point being, we’re naturally creative as individuals, and that creativity comes from the soul.?Good luck simulating that… and if we do, can someone get me a ticket to another world please and thanks??It’s sort of a ‘cat opening a door’ type event if you get my meaning.

I’ve used ChatGPT and other AI in various ways, but only to enhance my work, not to DO my work.?I’m still creatively minded and part of my creativeness lies in finding crafty, innovative ways to leverage technologies like AI to enhance the work I do; especially to better the human experience.?Again, this can be used for constructive and positive or negative purposes.?That choice is down to the character and integrity of the individual using them.?However, how its use is monitored and governed is yet another question, and in fact, a problem space to be reasoned about and dealt with.?There’s plenty of speculation and debate in many different areas of this subject to last us for many years to come.?The thing is though, AI is now a part of our lives whether we like it or not.?How we choose to view it, accept it and integrate it into our lives (or not) is largely up to us.?Whether we like it or not, if we use any mainstream or cloud-based technology, the likelihood is that we’re already using AI indirectly.?The choice to use it as a life and career enhancing tool is up to us as individuals.?The only philosophical point or concern I’ll raise is… I truly hope those who are developers of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence technologies are guided by common sense, common decency, and a healthy fear of what impact their technological creations will undoubtedly have on humankind and humanity.?

One last note… while part of my creativity lies in my passion for writing, technological innovation and photography… when it comes to art, I’m pretty much a stick drawing type of person.?The image below was generated by MidJourney, using my imagination to feed the “/imagine”ation of the Discord interface.?It’s astounding what it came up with and I’m not only blown away, I’ve enhanced my own creativity by experimenting with it!?As the saying goes, “your mileage will vary.”