We Shouldn't "Democratize Creativity"

Image: Badly edited by author

Our online world is starting to drown in AI-generated sludge. Everywhere you look, there’s writing, video, images, music and more, pumped out at the typing of a prompt, at speeds and scales not seen before.

The promise of generative AI is that, if you can think it, you can create it. It’s a big promise, and one that should result in creations that blow our minds. After all, humans can really think. History tells us our brains are very capable of doing amazing stuff.

And yet, whenever I engage with AI-generated content, the resounding feeling I’m left with is simply, what’s the fucking point in all of this?

I know I’m not alone in that feeling.

This is the so-called “democratizing of creativity,” the idea that AI tools can give everybody the ability to do anything. It’s a noble goal. But I’m starting to believe it’s one of the main reasons we’re seeing such a tidal wave of slop. When there’s no reason to create something other than “because I can,” it leads to soulless, meaningless output. If you give tools to people who don’t know what to do with them, or don’t particularly care what comes from using them, you get mediocrity. It’s making for the sake of making, and it shows.

I’ve said from day one that creativity is something that should not be dumbed down. It’s not something to be automated so that the masses can do it. It should be a challenge, an exercise in patience and dedication. You have to want to be creative. You have to want to push your boundaries. You have to want to learn the new skills, crafts and knowledge needed to produce whatever it is you envisioned.

The best things humans make come from this passion, and from an unwavering pursuit to get it done, no matter the hurdles ahead. It sure as shit doesn’t come from the typing of a few words into an interface that then regurgitates a bastardized version of previous work it trained on (read: stole from).

Skills — and the dedication and commitment to earn them — were always the gatekeeper to creativity. But now, the automation bros want to cut all that out. They want to optimize the process, and that means cutting out the learning curve. It’s all about getting from 0 to 1 as fast as possible. But why? Learning skills is not a bad thing, and shouldn’t be seen as a hindrance — for many, it’s as much about the process and the journey as it is the output. It’s deeply self-fulfilling. It results in work you can be proud of. A picture you can hang up on your wall. A piece of music you can play to others. A story you can read to your kids. You sit and think, “Whoa, I made that.” Creating stuff and learning how to do it is one of the best things about being human. We should not be looking to automate this. If anything, we should encourage more people to challenge themselves with creative endeavors.

Yet, with our new industrial-scale prompt machines, skill is no longer this gatekeeper to creativity.

I don’t think that’s a good thing. It may even be the problem. Using AI is all about the intentions behind it. In one scenario, it’s a tool that can be—and is—used in the process of creating great work. I know lots of people in this category, and they really do use it as one step in their multi-step process. In the other scenario, it is the entire process. I also know people in this category, and they use it to produce terrible work that offers absolutely nothing to society. (Sorry).

Why? Because there’s no intention behind it. There’s no soul in it. It just exists because it can, and it’s released into a world already filled with other AI sludge, slopping around in a big pool of nothingness, here for a second, gone the next. Sure, this applies to a lot of human-made content — blame the algorithms that prey on our attention spans — but at least the creators themselves gain something from it. It meant something to them. Perhaps they put in a few more hours of practice, taking another small step forward toward mastery.

When you typed a few words and hit enter, nobody wins. Not you, not me, and not the world. It’s just large-scale waste. If we’re learning anything from this current AI hype cycle, it’s that there’s nothing to be gained from automating creativity. We have to try better than that. We can use these tools, but we have to use them with the right intentions.

On that note, Happy Halloween! The Trend Mill logo seems very fitting today.