Brendan Dixon points out that the creativity exhibited by AI is underwhelming. This is true. Humans exhibit much more subtle creative abilities.
https://mindmatters.ai/2019/05/the-underwhelming-creativity-of-ai/
You are right, for now, but do you have children?
The 'creativity' of children is underwhelming too. It is often tiresome and boring. Children are this way for exactly the same reason that you identified for AI: all they can do is regurgitate. But we celebrate it because the process of watching them develop and deepen is delightful, and as they begin to recombine ideas in all kinds of random and frankly wrong ways, we know they might well reach the stage of truly surprising, truly original creativity. Why don't we take a similar attitude to AI? We should dote and coo over its efforts, however lame they may objectively be right now. Instead, we seem to be writing them off: "You will never amount to anything."
Come closer and I will let you into a secret: Grown up humans are fundamentally the same as children, only more advanced, more selective based on greater experience. Just because someone surprises me with their creativity, does not mean that it would surprise everyone. I know it does not surprise God. It might just mean that I am ignorant and have never seen it before. Moreover, what sounds like profundity to me might sound childish and tiresome to a more educated person (I wish Christians understood how often they inflict this on people! I suppose on the other side we all need to be careful to not lose a sense of wonder; not become snobs). Even the best jazz pianists improvise by recombining melodies and riffs that they heard before, or stumbled upon before (I used to play in a jazz group also). It is all about flow, the free expression, and it can be a process of discovery, but only the most puffed up and/or unreflective jazz musician thinks the music is ultimately sourced from inside them. Indeed, one insightful person once let the cat out of the bag: 'originality is little more than skill in concealing origins.' He was talking about jazz musicians.
Let's talk theological for a moment. Only God ever created anything strictly ex nihilo. The rest of us do something that looks like that, but it isn't exactly that. The rest of us are creative regurgitators and recombiners. But that is ok. Humans are made in the image of God. That means we are representations of God in the physical world. Humans can do amazing things, but that is not, ultimately, what makes us special. We love children, partly because some of them will do amazing things, but mostly just because they are children, even Down's babies. For that reason, even a true AI would not threaten human exceptionalism. But maybe we can afford to love AI as well.
https://mindmatters.ai/2019/05/the-underwhelming-creativity-of-ai/
You are right, for now, but do you have children?
Come closer and I will let you into a secret: Grown up humans are fundamentally the same as children, only more advanced, more selective based on greater experience. Just because someone surprises me with their creativity, does not mean that it would surprise everyone. I know it does not surprise God. It might just mean that I am ignorant and have never seen it before. Moreover, what sounds like profundity to me might sound childish and tiresome to a more educated person (I wish Christians understood how often they inflict this on people! I suppose on the other side we all need to be careful to not lose a sense of wonder; not become snobs). Even the best jazz pianists improvise by recombining melodies and riffs that they heard before, or stumbled upon before (I used to play in a jazz group also). It is all about flow, the free expression, and it can be a process of discovery, but only the most puffed up and/or unreflective jazz musician thinks the music is ultimately sourced from inside them. Indeed, one insightful person once let the cat out of the bag: 'originality is little more than skill in concealing origins.' He was talking about jazz musicians.
Let's talk theological for a moment. Only God ever created anything strictly ex nihilo. The rest of us do something that looks like that, but it isn't exactly that. The rest of us are creative regurgitators and recombiners. But that is ok. Humans are made in the image of God. That means we are representations of God in the physical world. Humans can do amazing things, but that is not, ultimately, what makes us special. We love children, partly because some of them will do amazing things, but mostly just because they are children, even Down's babies. For that reason, even a true AI would not threaten human exceptionalism. But maybe we can afford to love AI as well.
Comments
Post a Comment