In 2023, the global creator economy—spanning digital content creators, artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and more—was valued at over $200 billion. It is projected to exceed $600 billion by 2036.
In the past, creativity was confined to offline spaces, but the internet and social media sparked a surge in digital creators. Now, AI has entered the scene, revolutionizing the entire landscape.
We used to think that creativity was something unique to humans. But AI, along with its counterpart ChatGPT and other competing chatbots, is now challenging us with questions we never imagined asking.
So the questions we want to explore include:
- What is creativity?
- Why do we create?
- And is AI an existential crisis for artists and creators?
In this bubbling mix, the word “creativity” holds value, but its meaning holds even more. As AI rapidly progresses, that meaning has become somewhat blurred. Can we find a way to clarify it?
Creativity is not a simple word
I had a very simplistic view of language for a long time. One word had one meaning. I now realize that assumption is both naive and dangerous. That approach to communication and understanding of what is being said can lead to miscommunication.
Then I discovered a phrase that changed everything – “Suitcase word.” What does that mean? To put it in simple terms, it is one word with many meanings.
Pick a word and then ask yourself: What does that word mean? Open the word suitcase and inside sits a choir singing different tunes.
Here are some well-used and often abused words to reveal the fallacy of the “one word, one meaning” paradox:
- Tell me what love means?
- What is happiness?
And success? – Well…there are at least 7 types of success. Their meanings will vary according to your culture, experience, education and bias. Indian culture has 5 categories for the word “love.”
Often I will ask someone to clarify what they mean by success or what happiness is for them? I get many answers. But when that happens I can start to understand them.
What’s creativity?
My first memory in my creativity journey started with writing stories in grade 5 to complete some classwork or finish my homework. My teacher told me to keep going. Storytelling is just one element of creativity. At the time I saw it as a chore – Do this, you get to grade six, you won’t be left behind and look like a loser.
Then in high school, I started painting and tried to create something of beauty. To me that was creativity. But again it was transactional. Submit your painting and pass your subject. The joy of creation was often lost in the task.
But I have since discovered that creativity is broader and deeper than achieving a goal or obtaining a pass mark.
Here is a clinical and technical meaning for creativity:
“Creativity is the ability to generate new and original ideas, approaches, or solutions, often by connecting seemingly unrelated concepts or elements. It involves thinking in novel ways, challenging conventional norms, and producing work that has value in a given context, whether it’s art, science, business, or personal expression. Creativity draws upon imagination and experience, leading to innovation, problem-solving, or artistic expression.”
That is the formal meaning and a bit conventional but let’s get to the humanity and meaning behind those words.
Why do we create?
I started out creating to pass an exam or finish a project. But there are many drivers and motivators to create. And I think these are different for us all.
Here are a few:
- To create something of beauty – Painters and musicians sit in this box but it is not exclusive. Mathematicians often see beauty in an equation. But I don’t. It just confuses and overwhelms me. I catch myself often thinking and reacting with this phrase bubbling inside my brain. “Eyes glazed over. Nothing to see here, move on.”
- To innovate – Often this sits in the ecosystem of entrepreneurs. Steve Jobs mixed some old ideas into a new combination that was the iPhone. He described it in his iconic Apple keynote as “An iPod, a phone and an Internet mobile communicator”.”
- Solve a problem – Scientists and entrepreneurs sit in this box with others. Problem solving is creativity.
- Find meaning – I write to learn and make sense of the world. In the middle of that, I find meaning.
- Provide fulfillment – Producing art in any medium is fulfilling. Completing a creation says. “I did this and therefore I am.”
- Reach full potential – Creating your own art unlocks our human potential and it is a call to arms for actualizing the full force of you that if not acted on remains hidden and locked away.
- Become immortal – Maybe leaving your art behind is a way to live forever and cheat death. As creators we can leave something behind between the darkness of the beginning where we start from (birth) and the ending into the darkness we leave from (death). Van Gogh only sold 3 paintings during his lifetime. But over a hundred years later, his art is sold for over $100 million dollars. He has now become immortal.
The reality is that the motivation to create can be one of these or all of these.
My creativity force
When I was doing my degree at college I had to write essays. They were a chore and it was all about answering someone else’s chosen topic. It was all about making sense of their questions and topics and not mine.
30 years later, I started writing from a different place and for a more powerful reason. I wrote for me, from my curiosity and from the heart. Finding meaning from my creation became motivational.
Creating was my way to make sense of the world that was changing in front of me and distill that into words that made sense. And then, I would share that with others and invite them to share their views in comments. It became a creative loop.
For 4 years, I wrote an essay a day 5 days a week. They were blog posts. The writing was arising from a deep place and an observation of a powerful technology that was emerging and I was intensely curious about. That technology was social media.
Descartes in the 17th century said “I think therefore I am.” But I think there is something more powerful than that and the mission that we should all embrace is: “I create therefore I am”.
True creativity, at its core, is about discovering and creating the art of our lives. It’s about finding ourselves by making sense of our pain, joy, and the world as it unfolds around us, within us, and before our eyes.
“A self is probably the most impressive work of art we ever produce, surely the most intricate,” said American Psychologist Jerome Bruner.
Why AI is not able to deliver true creativity
AI has no self and can never seek fulfillment. It is not trying to find a sense of self and it is not seeking immortality. It is not about creating beauty or producing creative art forms. We need humans to be the final judge of that. It is not a creative force but an enabler of creativity.
But AI does have some superpowers.
AI can enhance our creativity
AI is not a creator but a tool to amplify and enhance our creativity by recombining old ideas into unique mixes and new recipes that we as humans can apply to life and innovation. It helps us break old patterns and rigid thinking, uncover information our imperfect memories have forgotten, and discover knowledge hidden in the crevices of the internet and the far corners of the web.
The bottom line
Creativity is a uniquely human act born from consciousness. It takes shape in many forms as we try to make sense of the world and find meaning in the emotions that define us.
Art and creativity emerge from that sacred space within us. Poetry paints vivid pictures of human emotions and observations.
Taylor Swift, for instance, writes music to explore the complexities of relationships and connections. Dating her might seem appealing—but cross her, and you may find yourself immortalized in a song shared with millions of listeners.
So, AI is one of the tools to help us produce our art. AI is an enabler and amplifier of human creativity but until it gains consciousness it will be a barren soulless space devoid of meaning that does our bidding.
I don’t see AI destroying human creativity just yet.
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* This article was originally published here
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