Why A.I. Isn't Going to Make Art

Their wordsBut let me offer a generalization: art is something that results from making a lot of choices.

Their wordsOne is to take an average of the choices that other writers have made, as represented by text found on the Internet; that average is equivalent to the least interesting choices possible, which is why A.I.-generated text is often really bland.

Their wordsThe selling point of generative A.I. is that these programs generate vastly more than you put into them, and that is precisely what prevents them from being effective tools for artists.

Their wordsWhat I’m saying is that art requires making choices at every scale; the countless small-scale choices made during implementation are just as important to the final product as the few large-scale choices made during the conception.

Their wordsBelieving that inspiration outweighs everything else is, I suspect, a sign that someone is unfamiliar with the medium.

Their wordsGenerative A.I. appeals to people who think they can express themselves in a medium without actually working in that medium.

Their wordsLet me offer another generalization: any writing that deserves your attention as a reader is the result of effort expended by the person who wrote it.

Their wordsBut a large language model is not a writer; it’s not even a user of language. Language is, by definition, a system of communication, and it requires an intention to communicate.

Their wordsThe task that generative A.I. has been most successful at is lowering our expectations, both of the things we read and of ourselves when we write anything for others to read.

Their wordsIt is a fundamentally dehumanizing technology because it treats us as less than what we are: creators and apprehenders of meaning. It reduces the amount of intention in the world.

Their wordsWhat you create doesn’t have to be utterly unlike every prior piece of art in human history to be valuable; the fact that you’re the one who is saying it, the fact that it derives from your unique life experience and arrives at a particular moment in the life of whoever is seeing your work, is what makes it new.