Essay 1 Draft

AI: Cheat Code or Tool?

Recently, Artificial Intelligence, or AI for short, has taken the internet by storm. A few examples are the trends of creating AI-generated art and pictures or turning oneself into Tim Burton or Disney characters. People create AI-generated photos and ask ChatGPT to generate random things or answer questions. Want to hear a well-known character or famous person sing Chandelier by Sia? You’ve got numerous covers on TikTok and YouTube. Want to create or interact with an AI character for various purposes? Platforms like CharcterAI, Snapchat AI, and Instragm’s new Meta AI characters have got you covered. AI is growing in our digital space and its footprint is growing. People are questioning AI’s role in the creative process: Will AI bring the end of creativity and originality, or will it be a tool of aid?

As an artist, using AI is a gray topic of discussion, though it often leans negative. As I am a creator myself, it is the same. I’ve seen countless protests and video essays on how artists have viewed AI as stealing and infringing on their styles to generate their images. It made me hesitate to post my work. When Meta revealed they would use publicly available photos and text from the platforms to train a text-to-image generator model called Emu, many artists found filters that scramble the algorithm, protested and spread information about the change, or migrated off Meta platforms (Growcoot). In a way, AI generation is the new tracing problem. People claim the results of work heavily based on someone else, not just inspiration. The overall conclusion is AI is not original. Ted Chiang drives this narrative in his article, “Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art.” Many artists would agree with Chiang that an “image might be exquisitely rendered, but the person entering the prompt can’t claim credit for that.” This is because those people only entered the prompt, not the choices, not the thoughts, and not the work. AI has two primary methods of creating content: taking the average of choices/answers that people have made or style mimicry (Chiang). Both come from creators whose work is being referenced and used to train the AI. As Dr. Mark Sample said, “Your AI is human every step of the way.” AI could not create its compositions, regardless of their quality, if not for human creators. They are a product of trends, just as we are. Although, it may not be as sinister as we make it out to be. In a way, AI steal like an artist just as we do (Kleon).

What seems to be the main problem is the context or the Kairos of AI. When many think of AI we think of automation and as previously mentioned, theft on some scale. Many people have been relying on AI rather than in moderation. Many students have been utilizing AI to generate answers or type up essays. Companies have been using AI to do the job of writers, artists, and workers in general. However, if we consider AI a tool for creativity rather than a cheat, it may paint a different picture. Notice how I am trying to emphasize the word tool. Creating is never an easy process. Trial and error is what makes us better. Chiang says that “any writing that deserves your attention as a reader is the result of effort expended by the person who wrote it.” People read and engage with things because someone put thought into them in some way. Chayka takes it a step further saying that writing (or in this sense creating) without thinking is simply content. At first, I disagreed with this take. In our current digital era, everything is content, and not all of it is mindless. Then I took another look. The same content is typically viral or trending. Those same formats are being reused over and over. Quick-form content is dominating because it often takes little thought, setup, and time. However, this doesn’t stop other creators from having genuine thought and creativity in their content. Rather, some creatives challenge themselves in those short-from restrictions.

With this in mind, I think that AI can also be used to create thoughtful content rather than the thoughtless kind. Chayka points out in his article that his AI self, Robot Kyle, drew to attention all of his “semi-subconscious tics that constitute [his] writing.” The AI highlighted those lazy patterns we as creators often fall back to. For artists, it may be drawing only ¾ portraits, for dancers, it may be the same moves in freestyle, and for writers, bad habits such as malicious comma use. In the words of George Orwell, many practices are “full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble.” Now Orwell may have been specifically speaking in the context of the English language, but the same logic can be applied to AI use. AI can be used to check for those bad habits we often fall back into. Rather than just relying on it, use it and learn from it. Just as my professor Dr.Churchill told my Writing 101 class, “If you use AI to check your essays, save two copies. One as the original, the other the revised one aided with AI.” This way we could learn from our habits and mistakes, rather than letting AI do all the work mindlessly. We also need to remember that tools are optional. We still have the option of other resources rather than AI, but if we use the intelligence, this is one of the ways to use it more progressively.

Another way to use AI is to help with those especially hard roadblocks. Have an idea you can’t quite express? Bouncing off of people not working? Can’t find that perfect source or reference? AI could be the way to go. A perfect example of this would be Vauhini Vara’s article “Ghosts.” In the article, she uses AI to help her write through a sensitive topic matter: her sister’s death. Using AI, Vara could finally bring herself to write about it. Vara generated 9 stories in total by authoring “the sentences in bold and GPT-3 [filling] in the rest.” She and her editor altered the AI generations after each generation, adding on little by little until her story was complete. She used AI as a tool to help her progress, never using it as a crutch to do all the work. Not to mention the AI would often drift off from the topic or purpose and contain numerous inconsistencies and untruths. This is an example of active content. Still thinking while creating but using the AI to help through it, not do the thinking. The generations that AI can make are typically the average of what people create or answer based on what the prompt is, and if niche or specific enough it could help get that one idea that’s been on the tip of the tongue. Sometimes we need a reminder, a path to help get back in the flow and AI could be that tool.

The discussion of AI is all about the context, the Kairos. On a wider scale, AI is often labeled with negative connotations: cheating, theft, laziness, and mindlessness. But, when discussing the argument of creativity, AI has the potential to be a tool of progress when used mindfully. When AI is paired with actual thought, it can help creators make progress or overcome roadblocks. If we think of AI as another resource that can be used when needed rather than a crutch, it becomes another tool in the toolbox. When review time comes or you’re looking for something specific, maybe it’s the right tool for the job. AI is like a pictureless Pinterest, both have an array of what you could need but not always exactly what you need. You don’t always need it but when you do it’s rather handy no?

Works Cited:

Chayka, Kyle. “My A.I. Writing Robot.” The New Yorker, 11 July 2023, www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/my-ai-writing-robot.

Chiang, Ted. “Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art.” The New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2024, www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/why-ai-isnt-going-to-make-art.

Growcoot, Matt. “Meta Is Using Your Instagram Photos to Train Its ‘amazing’ Ai Image Generator.” PetaPixel, 14 May 2024, petapixel.com/2024/05/14/meta-is-using-your-instagram-photos-to-train-its-amazing-ai-image-generator/.

Kleon, Austin. Steal like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative. Workman Pub., Co, 2012.

Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language.” The Orwell Foundation, 3 Apr. 2024, www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/politics-and-the-english-language/.

Vara, Vauhini. “Ghosts.” Believer Magazine, 20 Sept. 2023, www.thebeliever.net/ghosts/.

AI Usage:
I acknowledge the use of  to generate materials that were included within my assignment in modified form.

The following prompts were input into :
-Please identify any instances of passive voice in this essay and prompt me to fix them
-Please identify more instances of passive voice in this essay and prompt me to fix them

The output obtained was:
Here are the instances of passive voice I found in your essay:
“AI’s role in the creative process is being questioned”
Suggested revision: “People are questioning AI’s role in the creative process.”
“AI would not be able to create its compositions, no matter how good or bad of quality they may be.”
Suggested revision: “AI could not create its compositions, regardless of their quality.”
“Bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble.”
Suggested revision: “Bad habits spread by imitation and people can avoid them if they are willing to take the necessary trouble.”
These are the main cases of passive voice that could be revised for more directness. Let me know if you’d like help with any of the revisions or further suggestions!

Here are additional instances of passive voice in your essay, along with suggestions for revision:
“AI-generated pictures to asking ChatGPT to generate random things or answer questions.”
Suggested revision: “People use AI-generated pictures and ask ChatGPT to generate random things or answer questions.”
“AI’s role in the creative process is being questioned” (mentioned before but can be expanded)
Suggested revision: “People are questioning AI’s role in the creative process.”
“AI generation is the new tracing problem.”
Suggested revision: “People see AI generation as the new tracing problem.”
“AI is not original.”
Suggested revision: “Many argue that AI lacks originality.”
“The overall deduction is AI is not original.”
Suggested revision: “People conclude that AI lacks originality.”
“The process of creating is never an easy road.”
Suggested revision: “Creating is never an easy process.”
“It would not be able to create its compositions…” (already suggested but rephrased more)
Suggested revision: “AI could not create its compositions on its own…”
“If we look at AI in the context of a tool for creativity rather than a cheat…”
Suggested revision: “If we consider AI a tool for creativity rather than a cheat…”

By switching these sentences to active voice, your essay will sound more direct and dynamic. Let me know if you’d like further revisions or explanations!

The output was changed by me in the following ways:
Some of the inputs I implemented as is, others I used as a reference and edited them as needed.
Changed outputs:
“People use AI-generated pictures and ask ChatGPT to generate random things or answer questions.
→ People create AI-generated photos and ask ChatGPT to generate random things or answer questions.
Using Writer’s Diet, helped me identify different eligible words to change and alter. I then used it as a guide to revise my essay.

-Pledge VVB

Comments:

From Dr. Chill and Melz:

Focus in on the Artist’s conversation with AI rather than the general. Home in on artist.

Artists complaining about AI (Fight against Meta Emu, and Such)

Reduce clutter and get to the point, stronger but the same voice.

Get more specific in examples and language.

Angie:

I really enjoyed hearing your take on AI as a fellow artist! I like the tool analogy, I think that’s a good way of looking at AI when it comes to anything. Your thesis and hook are great, and your transitions between paragraphs are good! I think you should focus a little more on the “Ghosts” example since it could really help your argument a lot, and it felt like the paragraph on it was not as deep as it could be. Another suggestion I’d make is to make sentences less wordy since I got a little lost sometimes. Great work overall, though!!!

Melissa/Melz:

I love the fact that as an artist you are having your voice emerge among the others and you are conveying your ideas very well. I could say that you could try to focus on the artistic question and also reduce the words to avoid losing the readers. But overall, I love the idea in it.