Human Creativity as a Middle Finger to AI
When I was a child, I liked to draw. I would imagine scenes and put them down on paper. It was not necessarily beautiful, but it was a way to bring ideas to life. I had the same thing with Lego kits: I would create buildings and vehicles and characters, and I would invent stories and act them out with the toys I had built. In school, while I was a terrible student, I was pretty quick to learn to write. By grade 3, I was getting in trouble for ignoring the instructions and writing long stories instead of the dumb little essays we were being asked to do. I had a vivid imagination and just couldn’t be satisfied with a 250-word paper on objects in the classroom (yes, I vaguely remember having to do this in grade 3). Clearly, I was hardwired for creativity, and couldn’t just stop on command.
But then, as I grew up, I tried to shun that part of me. I dismissed it as something childish that wouldn’t help me provide for myself in any way. I wanted to become a grown-ass adult who could be serious and make money to provide for myself. In a way, I eventually did it: got a Bachelor’s degree, got “real” jobs, and picked up photography, only as a hobby that could still scratch that itch. And then came AI and the threat of it making art irrelevant and taking millions of jobs away. With it, I realized I still had a repressed dream of making a living out of my creativity, and now, it feels like that train may have left the station.
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been very pessimistic about the future these last few years, and the idea that both my livelihood and my pastimes could become obsolete in the near future, had to do with it. But you know what? I think I might just want to double down! AI may be able to produce “photos” or texts or music (based on real art that it stole), but it’s the personal journey behind the final product that really matters. It’s the backstory that gives it its je ne sais quoi.
When I’m out taking pictures, or up late at night writing, I’m not just doing it in the hope of making money. I haven’t made a penny out of any of it, if I’m being honest, and maybe I never will. But while I’m putting my mind to those seemingly pointless endeavours, I’m not thinking about the things that bother me, many of which I have no control over whatsoever. The creative process acts as a cast to hold my mind in place while it recovers from the day’s injuries. It’s what keeps me from spiralling and allows me to catch a break when reality becomes hard to digest. In many ways, it allows me to put myself in an alternate version of reality that suits me better, just for a little bit, just as a brief mental vacation. No amount of AI garbage will ever come close to achieving that.
The wankers from Silicon Valley cannot begin to comprehend this because they have no soul. They are dead inside. In their minds, we are all walking husks, devoid of any hopes and dreams, because they project their own, beige reality unto us. They crave material gain because it’s the closest thing they got to feeling alive. The emotions they express are purely performative and carefully chosen as means to their ends, but behind their masks are nothing but black holes. They don’t lose sleep over the idea of kicking us all to the curb because they think so little of us that once we’re replaced with their shiny new product, we’ll basically cease to exist, as far as they’re concerned.
So if you’re a creative person, please keep doing what you’re doing, regardless of exposure or financial gain. Know that the things that you make with your own mind make you unique and add colour to the world, and know that there are still people out there who can appreciate the human work behind the art. In the age of AI, pour your heart and soul into your creative projects as a middle finger to those who want to erase your sense of self and stop you from being so uniquely you. Embrace quirkiness and imperfection, get out there, and be unapologetically human!
