Freaking out over a new tech like AI isn’t a new experience. Because change has been part of a creative’s life forever.

The threat of AI taking over the whole world or replacing all of our jobs is ridiculous. AI is an awe-inspiring technology. As with all new tech, it comes with the fear of the unknown. Yes, it will alter how we do many jobs/tasks presently. But it’s a long, long way from obsoleting humans, especially creatives.

To be a creative, a visionary, a true storyteller takes an ability most people don’t understand. Even the ones with the ability aren’t really sure how it happens.

This “sky is falling,” and the “end days are upon us” is nonsense. The fear of the new and unknown has been happing forever. And I mean forever. Each evolution of tech in some area threatens to obsolete humans. STOP IT!!

It hasn’t and isn’t going to obsolete humans for a long, long time. Even my daughter’s newborn will not have to worry about human obsolesce as an adult. And since you can’t argue with me here, I will say we will NEVER have to worry about it.

What you DO need to concern yourself with (you see, I didn’t say worry) is the way your gig is being done now and will DEFINITELY not be done that way in the future (However long the future is, one day or a thousand days from now.)

So why all the freaking? Just as you learned how to do what you do now, you can learn how to do it differently in the future.

This blog isn’t really about the AI argument. I’m not an AI wizard and haven’t studied AI development. I do know that for now, AI, as with most computer applications, is based on a set of formulas, patterns, and algorithms. AI can now take these learned patterns and alter them by evolving those simple patterns into complex patterns.

Here is what keeps creatives safe. We don’t process our creative thought based on repetitive patterns. As I said earlier, most of us don’t really know how we create, we just do. How we output that creativity is a whole other thing.

Let’s use a guitar player like Clapton. He has been constantly influenced by the world around him and the day’s emotions. That influence will find its way into his phrasing. Yet he had to learn what notes on the neck allowed him to express those emotions. An AI guitar player can study and learn Clapton style but will never catch up on how he emotes his feeling into the notes on his guitar’s neck.

Someone intelligent person can study Clapton for their entire life but will never feel or emote like him. An AI musician (I use that term only as an illustration) can study and learn how Clapton plays a thousand times faster than a human student, but it will never be able to create like Clapton. Copy yes. Stylize to a degree but not originate uniquely.

But before I go too far off, this blog’s real point which is adapting to change and not fearing when you are faced with change or quitting. I still want to talk about examples of how AI can’t replace a creative’s touch.

AI Writers

AI.ioChatGPT was built to analyze database patterns relating to the user’s inputted tasks. Let’s say, ChatGPT was tasked with writing a sitcom pilot about a middle-class American family moving into a new neighborhood. It would look up stats on middle-class families, size, economic status, posted case studies, demographics of today’s family unit, other programming that falls into those parameters, etc. 

It would crunch that info into an industry-standard formulated writing treatment used to pitch a show. Out would pop a typical family sitcom with familiar repetitive dialogue and storyline. 

Is this GPT a sellable treatment? Probably, if the Green Lighters are looking for a vanilla story that looks and feels like every other similar story. If they are looking for an entertaining story that breaks new ground and sets the pace for the next generation of family sitcoms, they must go old school and hire seasoned, experienced writers. 

What makes a good writer’s story anyway? It’s been said for years writers need to write what they know. Characters and situations they have a personal attachment to and experiences they’ve been influenced by. Good luck with that GPT!

Creativity wins over rehash. Whether it’s GPT or a lousy writer ripping off other writers, creativity always wins vs formula writing. 

Whether the fear is GPT, Synthesizers replacing musicians, robotic cameras replacing hard cams, or any other, “that’s not the why we did it”, change is coming. Remember when the guitar players during the big band era would be strumming their hearts out, and no one could hear them. Someone invents an amplifier, BAM, guitar players move to center stage, and rock is born.

Change is a positive force of creativity. It isn’t something to be feared. It needs to be embraced. It allows your mind to wander and envision a better way. Spend a little time learning about George Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic. The development of new technology allowed Lucas and friends to envision and produce “Worlds” that would never have been possible without building new tech. A lot of that tech replaced the old way of doing things, and in turn, many staffers had to evolve, relearn or move on.  

 Remember, change isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of something better that you haven’t seen yet.  The freaking out over a new tech like AI isn’t a new experience. Because change has always been part of a creative’s life forever. 

The threat of AI taking over the whole world or at least replacing all of our jobs is ridiculous. AI is an incredibly impressive technology. As with all new tech it comes with the fear of the unknown. Yes, it will definitely alter the way we do many jobs / tasks presently. But it’s a long long way from obsoleting humans especially creatives. 

To be a creative, a visionary, a true storyteller takes an ability most people don’t understand, even the ones with the ability aren’t really sure how it happens. 

This “sky is falling” and the “end days are upon us” is nonsense. The fear of the new and unknown has been happing forever. And I mean forever. Each evolution of tech in some area threatens to obsolete humans. STOP IT!! 

It hasn’t and isn’t going to obsolete humans for a long long time. Even my daughters new born will not have to worry about human obsolesce as an adult. And since you can’t argue with me here I will say we will NEVER have to worry about it. 

What you DO need to concern yourself with, (you see I didn’t say worry) is the way your gig is being done now will DEFINITELY not be done that way in the future, (However long the future is, one day or a thousand days from now.) 

So why all the freaking? Just as you learned how to do what you do now, you can learn how to do it differently in the future. 

This blog isn’t really about the AI argument. I’m not an AI wizard and haven’t studied the AI development. What I do know is for now AI, as with most computer applications are based on a set of formulas, patterns and algorithms.  AI can now take these learned patterns and alter them by evolving those simple patterns into complex patterns. 

Here is what keeps creatives safe. We don’t process our creative thought based on repetitive patterns. As I said earlier most of us don’t really know how we create we just do. How we output that creativity is a whole other thing. 

Let’s use a guitar player like Clapton. He has been constantly influenced by the world around him and the emotion of the day. That influence will find its way to his phrasing. Yet he had to learn what notes on the neck allowed him to express those emotions. An AI guitar player can study and learn Clapton style but will never catch up on how he emotes his feeling into the notes on his guitars neck. 

Someone smart person can study Clapton for their entire life but will never feel or emote like him. An AI musician (I use that term only as an illustration) can study and learn how Clapton plays a thousand times faster than human student but it will still never be able to create like Clapton. Copy yes. Stylize to a degree but not originate uniquely. 

But before I go too far off the real point of this blog, which is adapting to change and not fearing when you are faced with change or quit. I still want to talk about examples of how AI can’t replace a creative’s touch. 

AI Writers

AI.ioChatGPT was built to analyzes patterns in data bases relating to the user’s inputted tasks. So, if ChatGPT was tasked with writing a pilot about a middle-class American family moving into a new neighborhood. It would look up stats on middle class families, size economic status, posted case studies, demographics of today’s family unit, other programing that falls into those parameters, etc. 

It would crunch that info into an industry standard formulated writing script used to pitch a show. Out would pop a typical family sitcom with familiar repetitive dialogue and storyline. 

Is this GPT a sellable story? Probably, if the Green Lighters are looking for a vanilla story that looks and feels like every other story. If they are looking for an entertaining story that breaks new ground and sets the pace for the next gen of family sitcoms they will have to go old school and hire good experienced writers. 

What makes a good writer’s story anyway?  It’s been said for years writers need to write what they know. Characters and situations that they have a personal attachment and experiences they’ve been influenced. Good luck with that GPT!

Creativity wins over rehash. Whether it’s GPT or a bad writer ripping off other writers, creativity always wins vs formula writing. 

Whether the fear is GPT, Synthesizers replacing musicians, or robotic cameras replacing hard cams or any other “that’s not the why we did it”, change is coming.  Remember when the guitar players during the big band era would be strumming their hearts out and no one could hear them. Someone invents an amplifier and BAM guitar players move to center stage and rock was born.

Change is a positive force of creativity. It isn’t something to be feared it needs to be embraced. It allows your mind to wonder and envision a better way. Spend a little time learning about George Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic. The development of new technology allowed Lucas and friends to envision and then produce “Worlds” that would never have been possible without building new tech. A lot of that tech replaced the old way of doing things and in turn many staffers had to evolve, relearn or move on.  

 Remember change is the end its a beginning of something better. You haven’t seen it yet.