New technology advancements are constantly being introduced. They promise to make our lives easier and more pleasant. And they do. Calculators make complex calculations effortless, mobile phones allow us to connect with loved ones with just a touch of a button, Smart TVs can show any movie or show at any time we want it, and Smart watches measure steps, pulse and many other metrics.
But to what cost is this ease of living and continuous comfort? As technologies become smarter, aren’t we becoming a little less capable, a little more inept?
Today, the pinnacle of advancement is AI technologies. And as a Software Engineer I can certainly testify for the benefits that AI has brought into my career. A complex concept? No worries, ChatGBT is just a few clicks away to offer the perfect explanation. It can also bear the boredom of writing emails, provide movie and book recommendations, and perform tough calculations. It’s almost like a personal assistant who’s never tired. Who’s an expert in everything, and never says “No”, regardless of the time of day or the difficulty of the task at hand. These and many others are conveniences that we can easily get used to.
Nevertheless, I often wonder, isn’t this incredible AI helper, as amazing as it is, making us a bit less self-reliant each day? And isn’t it robbing us of the creativity and individuality that we as creators can offer?
People once had the ability to perform calculations mentally. But that all changed with the invention of the calculator. Then, mobile phones arrived and they extinguished the need for remembering stuff, such as friends and family members contact numbers and addresses. Now we are struggling to remember a simple information, such as a short sequence of digits and people’s names. What’s even more disturbing is that phones now feel like parts of our bodies. They are almost like extensions of our hands and fingers. And without them it seems like we cannot function.
People no longer talk to each other. Instead they’d rather spend time on their phones. The picture of a packed train, where all of the passengers are staring down at their screens is sad and unfortunate. It’s as if on boarding the train, they’ve been given a tough exam that needs to be completed before they are allowed off the train. And everyone is trying their best to pass this illusory “exam”. But perhaps there’s something more important that they are missing out on, namely, the real human connection and interaction?
Nonetheless, the concern for isolation, loss of character and our growing dependency on technology might be even bigger when it comes to the rise of AI. The gradual disappearance of individuality and creativity in both, us and our creations is increasingly troubling. Ai can now write poems, create images, compose and sing songs. And sadly more and more creators are starting to draw up ideas and suggestions from this magnificent peace of technology. But as intelligent as it can be, it lacks the soul and heart of a living person. It’s only a matter of time before our works of art become characterless and increasingly similar to one another.
Is it possible that in our constant strive for ease and comfort, we will become ever more dependant on AI when it comes to all of those creative tasks? And as time passes, similarly to our skills to do mental calculations, our creative abilities will atrophy. Computers will create our songs and books, whilst real artists will be forgotten forever.
In an article in Forbes, titled “The Intersection Of AI And Human Creativity: Can Machines Really Be Creative?”, Bernard Marr writes:
“No matter how impressive a piece of computer-created poetry or artwork might be, it’s always built from blocks carved out of the data that’s used to train it. In other words, it isn’t genuinely capable of what we would call “original thought” – having new ideas of its own.”
So the paradox here is that as advanced as we think we are becoming, we are actually steadily walking in the opposite direction. Technology advances, as we retreat.
So, how do we get the best of both worlds? How do we avoid the atrophy of the human brain whilst still enjoying all of the wonderful benefits that AI has to offer? Well, that’s all in the hands of the individual. But probably the best thing to do is to use AI for manual tasks or for information, and leave it out of our creative works, because as Edward De Bono once said:
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“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.”