Recently, I came across an article about the Anthropic researcher who quit his position over fear that such races toward self-improving AI models wouldn’t be controllable by humans. I can’t help but wonder, haven’t contemporary AI forms already pervaded our minds?
As a writer, the enjoyment I feel in creating my own words are similar to that of painting, an art that has existed since the beginning of time. Each word I type formulates a sentence of my own, and is as magical to me as putting vivid colors and hybridizing them on a blank canvas to encapsulate a beautiful landscape — a snapshot of a place preserved despite the oscillations of night and day, season, and weather. This blissful feeling has been shared across generations, across peoples of all races, genders, and tongues. It’s what has created movies, novels, plays, musicals, all that come from spurious ideas that someone who chose to pursue and give life to. I feel like anyone who takes the time to unlock and deepen their creative mind can also enjoy these sensations, the pleasure of making something only your imagination can think of into something others too can enjoy and get inspired from.
It’s a fact that now such origins of creativity have become entangled with AI. What makes me the most worried is that so many youthful minds, the minds that will create the next generation of mythical worlds, stories of wonders, or beautiful artpieces, are becoming so reliant on these models. As a college student, I know most of my time is devoted to my school work, and like my peers, are constantly pressured by worries of bad grades or failing a class. With the rise of AI, it is so easy to ask any question of one’s liking, especially so for English course essays. This practice is dulling one’s ability to think on one’s own, to sit still with a question and decipher it. Not only is this just an important skill to develop, it’s the basis of problem-solving that applies to almost every aspect of life.
Creativity, in its most magnificent form, not only has the power to be enjoyed as expressions of art, but can solve the world’s most pressing problems. The human species have come incredibly far, creating infrastructure, technologies, and medicines, without being reliant on AI. I strongly believe that in order for myself to further develop, I have to let my humanistic side free, and accept the flaws of being one. I have to make genuine mistakes on assignments instead of being scared of them, ask questions to professionals who have actual experience instead of asking AI, and take time to unleash my imagination instead of probing an LLM for an idea. If humans begin to entrust their own capabilities and each other more, or at least be inspired to fine-tune and improve a skill that they lack instead of relying on AI systems as a sort of a panacea, there would still be incredible advances in our world. Not only that, a legacy of art, literature, and music creation will continue to maintain its authentic, humanistic core, allowing the exchange of emotions, tradition, celebration, and most importantly connection.
“I strongly believe that in order for myself to further develop, I have to let my humanistic side free, and accept the flaws of being one.”
Maria Kato
I like to always think about Mary Oliver’s quote, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”, because it grounds me in the fact that life is anything but perfect, but is so valuable because of that. While I still have time, I hope to continue developing my own voice and thoughts on my own without letting an AI’s thoughts dilute it, to make my own decisions and ideas on my own, and to make connections by trusting others with my dilemmas. I hope others will do the same.