AI Really *Is* Taking My Job
Hello, I am a creative professional.
- I create software.
- I create content.
- I create illustrations.
- I create music.
I love generative AI.
I use AI tools more and more. It's unlocked more creativity, ideas, and productivity. It helps me break loose when I get stuck. It's incredible and empowering and will only get better.
I love generative AI.
Since 2018, I've enjoyed a nice little side hustle of drawing cartoon avatars and silly illustrations for people. The illustration work never amounted to a livable income. Still, it provided a nice bonus of extra "fun" money that my family and I could use towards our hobbies and travel. Plus, it's something I really, really enjoy doing.
In the last 12 months, my illustration business has dropped more than 50%.
I hate generative AI.
It's sad, but I totally get it. Generative AI satisfies people's curiosity and provides the entertainment value that used to only come from paying an artist.
If I had access to these AI tools years ago, I may have never developed the illustration skills I have today.
I hate generative AI.
We will effectively lose many creative skills to a new generation without the incentive and motivation to learn them.
It isn't the first time in history we've lost amazing skills and craftsmanship to innovation. And it won't be the last.
We'll find new ways to be creative with our new tools. Things we've never done before. Things we never imagined before. We will one day think, "How did we ever live without this?"
I love generative AI.
Comments
3 archived comment(s) from this site's previous comment system. These are read-only — join the discussion above.
Great post, David... and so very, very true.
Great post, gen AI is so handy, but it's pretty concerning that we might stop actually creating new styles, with just re-hashed versions of what we've already done.
Sure, there will be new creative things done with the gen AI, but I don't think that's a great substitute for human creators who have new ideas.
We used to call rehashed art ideas "schools of art" such as the Hudson River Valley, Impressionist, Pointillist, etc.
I'm not concerned with rehashing versions of what we have already. Almost all commercial art is a rehash, a lot of new art is a rehash of what people have seen, poorly remembered, and some even deliberately try to obscure the origins.
I suggest examining why you feel rehashing is a problem.
Is it ego? Is it some loss of humanness? If you think it's something unique to humans, look over history and see just how many times humans have been knocked out of their special places in the universe over and over and over again to the point where now we finally understand that we're not the only sapient beings with tool use and language. We've just been at it longer on this planet.
Interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter!