Apart from imagination and ideation, what makes a great piece of art?
We couldn’t ignore the strength of the tool that plays a significant role in animating an idea. Artificial Intelligence (AI), as a tool, has been making waves in the creative industry in recent years, with many artists exploring the potential of this technology to enhance and augment their art.
The utilization of AI in the realm of art and creativity has revolutionized the way in which we generate and consume art. Even though Artificial Intelligence is an emerging technology that still needs to develop in many ways to perform an array of other tasks, it has already started to surprise the human race with its capabilities and potential.
Generative art is a kind of art that is created using algorithms and computer programs that can generate new and unique pieces based on a set of rules or parameters. Artists can use AI to create generative music, video, and visual art that can be customized in real time based on the audience’s preferences. This allows for a level of interactivity and personalization that was previously impossible in the art world.
Social media content creators are already experimenting with Artificial Intelligence to harness its potential and determine its limitations.
Artificial Intelligence As A Threat
In today’s fast-paced world, artists are feeling the pressure to embrace new technologies, explore their potential, and use them to invent new art forms and carve out a unique space for their work in the industry.
One of the primary concerns is the potential for AI to displace human artists. As AI-powered algorithms become more sophisticated, they are able to automate tasks such as 3D modeling and animation, reducing the need for human artists in certain areas of the creative process. This could lead to a loss of jobs for human artists, as well as a homogenization of art as AI-generated works become more prevalent.
According to Zippia, Up to 73 million US jobs will be lost to automation by 2030. that’s a considerable 46% of the current jobs, which means automation will no doubt shake up the nature of the job market.
Although – in the near future – Artificial Intelligence doesn’t seem to reach the level of wiping away all human jobs, some fictionists expect this to happen sometime in the future.
Artificial Intelligence As A Blessing
Music composition, game design, animation, and graphic designing – all these creative procedures involve plenty of references and reiterations and become even more complicated and time-consuming when a minor change is required. At some level, an artist has to redo the whole process from scratch because the complexity of the problem or edit surpasses the worthiness of time.
I don’t want to dive too deep into the nitty-gritty of the technicalities of AI, but I’ll give a quick rundown of a concept to help you understand the AI process better. Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is an advanced form of AI. It is an intersection of deep learning and reinforcement learning. DRL allows an agent to learn from its own actions and optimize its behavior in an environment to achieve a specific goal. DRL has been successfully applied to solve complex decision-making problems in areas such as robotics, gaming, and autonomous vehicles.
One of the most acclaimed applications of artificial intelligence in the creative industry is Natural Language Processing (NLP). AI-powered NLP systems are able to understand, interpret, and respond to human language, which has led to the development of technologies like machine translation, chatbots, and virtual assistants. Chat GPT, powered by Open AI, is the best example of NLP system.
AI and Metaverse
AI is taking the metaverse to the next level with its ability to create realistic avatars and responsive virtual environments. In short, it’s unlocking the full potential of the metaverse.
As we all know, many artists are experimenting with Dall-E and Midjourney’s AI to create viral masterpieces that are blowing internet users’ minds. This allows the trend of rapid creation and deployment of new content, which can be used to build more complex and detailed virtual worlds.
With Language Processing, virtual environments are also able to adapt and respond in real-time to your actions, making the experience more immersive than ever before. Imagine talking to a virtual character and having it understand and respond to you in a natural way, that’s what AI and NLP are making possible in the metaverse industry.
Creative Destruction – “Embrace it and Adopt” or “Left Behind”
Creative destruction is a concept in economics first introduced by Joseph Schumpeter in his 1942 book “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy.” Creative destruction is like a game-changer for the economy, where new and innovative technologies and industries come in to replace the old ones. It may seem tough in the short run, but in the long run, it leads to higher productivity, living standards, and overall prosperity. Competition is the key driver, where new players introduce new products and technologies, forcing established players to step up their game being left behind.
Take a little trip back in time to when humans used to rely on hunting before the introduction of agriculture, but hunting remained crucial even after agriculture was adopted. However, agriculture allowed for the cultivation of crops, which led to the creation of diverse and delicious dishes. Cooking became an art form and a way to connect with others over a shared meal. Today, we have an abundance of food options. Just like agriculture, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is presenting a groundbreaking approach to art creation.
It’s important to understand that the current state of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still a far cry from true human-like intelligence. While AI can mirror certain aspects of human cognition, such as pattern recognition and language processing, it lacks the complexity and nuance of the human brain, which combines genetics, experience, and trial-and-error learning.
AI will continue to be adopted as a powerful tool. However, for the foreseeable future, creativity and ideation will remain firmly in the hands of humans. So, while we can certainly expect AI to play an increasingly important role in our lives, we can rest assured that creativity and innovation will always be a human-centric domain.