The subject of AI and creativity brings with it fierce convictions. My favorite trope is the end-of-world dystopia, where AI destroys human life. Opinions are like armpits-everyone has two and they both stink.

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Are you using AI? Whether you realize it or not, you are. Do you talk with Alexa? Use Google Maps? How about in gaming? Search engines are powered by artificial intelligence. If you don’t think you’re using AI, you are completely mistaken.

AI And Creativity: A Threat To Original Thinking

AI is a hell of a tool. It’s fast, efficient, and can mimic anything you throw at it. But that’s where the danger lies. AI doesn’t create, it copies. It doesn’t think, it analyzes patterns. Original thought doesn’t operate by simply following patterns. It comes from breaking them, from stepping off the beaten path, from facing something new and figuring it out for yourself. AI, no matter how good it gets, can’t do that. It just spits back what it’s been taught. And that’s a problem.

The more people rely on AI, the more everything starts to look the same. You see it in art, in writing, in music. The same ideas regurgitated again and again because AI can’t make the leap to something truly new. It’s all based on what’s already been done. And if we lean on it too much, we risk losing what makes human creativity special-its unpredictability, its messiness, its raw power to come out of nowhere and surprise us.

Then there’s the laziness AI can breed. Why struggle to come up with an idea when AI can hand you one in seconds? Why wrestle with a problem when you can just ask the algorithm?

Original thought is hard, and it should be. It takes time, effort, and a willingness to sit with uncertainty. But if we rely too much on AI, we’ll forget how to do that. We’ll get comfortable letting the machine think for us, and that’s when we lose something vital—our ability to think for ourselves.

AI isn’t going anywhere, and that’s fine. It can make life easier in a lot of ways. But we have to be careful. We can’t let it take over the hard work of thinking, of creating. Because if we do, we’ll wake up one day and find that everything’s the same. No originality. No spark. Just a lot of good copies, but nothing new. And that’s a tragic loss.

I Use AI In My Creative Process

I use Chat GPT heavily, Grammarly, as well as Google Language Models.

Almost all of my illustrations are AI generated. Every image conveys the intent I want. Far more efficient than using Shutterstock or Unsplash.

There are endless arguments about utilizing artificial intelligence. Most of the people I know who argue against using AI are those who don’t use it.

AI and Creativity: The High-Speed Ride We Can’t Always Fix

When I first started owning motor vehicles, I did most of the maintenance. The motors were super accessible; pop the hood, bam! Instant access. It was no big deal changing the oil and adjusting the carburetors. If the vehicles were running a little off, I would adjust the timing chain and play with the valves. Just break out the feeler gauge, loosen the valve and then tighten up to the thickness of the blade.

Things changed when I purchased my Toyota Supra. It was a 1985.5, the last year of the in-line straight six. One hundred eighty three cubic inch, dual-overhead camshaft, racing suspension, 5-speed manual transmission.

It would be an understatement to say that the car could accelerate. I could drive the thing like my motorcycle, doing 35 mile corners at 70. The center of gravity was so low, when it hit corners, the machine would never lean. The Supra’s rear tires would skip across the pavement.

You know what I couldn’t do? Repair it. It was my first automobile with a computer system. To maintain it, I would need to tool up. That wasn’t an investment or learning curve that was of interest to me.

The Supra was analogous to AI. It could get me places faster, in a fun and efficient fashion. Did I understand the mechanics enough to maintain it myself? Nope. But I could drive it, and drive it well.

It was an incredible automobile, too much for some. In the first week of ownership, the friend I sold it to wrapped it around a tree. Fun times came to a quick end.

Medium.com

I write on Medium. Several weeks ago, I received a notification that Medium was considering blocking people who use AI as the author. Well, that’s good for them. However, I’m guessing that at least half of the folks writing on Medium are using AI. That’s a policy they aren’t going to follow through with, a war they are going to lose.

AI is here to stay. Get right or get left. 

But I’m willing to play by the rules. I like Medium. It’s a great platform for writers. I have learned a lot from those who post there.

Grammarly

I religiously use Grammarly, cross-checking all of my content with it. I’m feeling pretty proud, too, because now my grammar is beyond question.

Grammarly recently released its AI detection tool. “This is great,” I thought to myself.

Grammarly has tool parameters that allow you to set the grammar style you want. These are called Goals. When you set Goals in Grammarly, you can customize various writing parameters, including:

• Intent (e.g., Inform, Describe, Convince, Tell a story)
• Audience (e.g., General, Knowledgeable, Expert)
• Formality (e.g., Informal, Neutral, Formal)
• Tone (e.g., Neutral, Confident, Joyful, Optimistic, etc.)
• Domain (e.g., Academic, Business, General, Casual, Creative)

These options allow you to adjust Grammarly’s suggestions to better suit your writing style and purpose.

(Thank You, Chat GPT, you just saved me time.) 

I take my original text, set my goals, and boom, I’m rewarded with as perfect grammar as possible. I feel good! Heh!

Then, I activated the new AI detection tool.

Good news, right? Wrong. Grammarly is an AI, and it is perfectly able to detect itself. What’s worse, while correcting the grammar of my text, the original content gets replaced. How many undo commands are necessary to retrieve my original context, errors, and all?

This had to be a one-off. I ran in circles for days working with Grammarly before realizing it wasn’t.

I’m thinking about all my posts on Medium and how I will be flagged as an AI writer. Not happy.

I wrote a heated email to Grammarly telling them they must figure it out; this is utter rubbish.

And yet:

I discovered the number one culprit of Grammarly’s AI detection detecting itself. Some of it is from grammar corrections.

If you use Grammarly, you know it corrects what it calls spacing errors.

I’m hyper-sensitive to being accused of Using Chat GPT to do my writing. So, I am constantly checking with the AI detection parameter.

The culprit is the spacing error command. It will take original content and, when activated, turn it into AI content. The funny thing is, there is no verbiage or punctuation correction—it’s only the spacing. The spacing doesn’t need correction; I do it as a precaution. There is no longer a need.

Yep, Grammarly has issues. They need to fix this.

AI and Creativity: Amplifying Effort, Not Replacing It

Yes, I am heavy into Chat GPT and Google Language Models.

Even though I am reliant on these tools, I still sweat my ass off. I am diligent and work hard.

AI has allowed an exponential output of content. I work just as hard as before, but I’m more efficient. AI is my Supra 1985.5.

AI and Creativity: Are We Really Moving Forward?

Is society really moving forward? That’s what we are told to believe. Progress looks more like one step forward, one step back. In this day and age, we are more educated and connected. Our reliance on technology is the backbone of civilization. However, we are only one Carrington Event away from collapse. In the evolution of society, we have developed more abilities but need to remember how to use basic our instincts. We have moved from raw and untamed to refined and polished. For what?

Look at the difference between someone today who’s always online, wearing the latest smart tech, with a laptop, a to-do list app, and a wallet full of credit cards. You’ll find that the digital native is often tired, stressed out, and distant from their roots.

Modern man has all the tech at his disposal, yet he still needs to gain some basic abilities. We rely on GPS for directions but need help to navigate without it. We wear a smartwatch that tracks every step but have yet to learn how to read nature’s signs, like the time of day from the sun.

I don’t think people are smarter than they used to be. We definitely aren’t stronger. Today’s so-called ‘Superstars’ aren’t any more remarkable than the legendary figures of the past. No matter how much we innovate in science, art, or philosophy, it doesn’t produce individuals of greater character or ability than those of centuries ago.

Technology has changed things; there’s no denying. People can talk to each other from across the world, and they can learn things they never would have known. That’s the good part.

I think people are less resilient. People seem to be helpless, especially in the First World. Life is so far from harsh, now when things go south, these persons break easily. Life is so much easier now that entitlement is prevalent. Not just for the rich. All levels of society are entrenched in entitlement. Ask anybody in customer service, they will agree.

People need to remember how to handle setbacks, which can often be a daily occurrence. These aren’t really setbacks; more like minor inconveniences. Life isn’t on the line, yet entitlement leads people into having less patience.

We like to think we’ve come far, but have we? The great persons of the past; they were great because of who they were. Not because of what they had. They didn’t need algorithms to make them creative or gadgets to make them strong. They were not owed anything, and they knew it.

And now, we’ve got all this technology, but we aren’t any better for it. Maybe we’re worse.

People talk about progress. They think because they have something new, they’ve moved forward. But that’s not the way it works.

Real progress, authentic creativity, is not about the tools you use.

It’s about how you use the tools.

Can We Help You?

Is there one thing we can do for you? It’s why we’re here.

Thank you for reading this post! If you found value in it, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Please share this post with others who might benefit from it, and don’t forget to subscribe for more insights and updates. Your support means everything!

Want More Mack-n-Cheeze?

Videos - Bryan At Mackncheeze on YouTube

Podcasts – Bryan At Mackncheeze Apple Podcasts, Fountain, Spotify