Skynet has arrived and its name is ChatGPT

 

I know I am not exactly cutting edge on technology, though I do have a masters degree in that discipline. Technology degrees have a definitive shelf-life, which I discovered from being laid off from a couple different big tech companies.

But that isn't the worst of it.

Again, not being on the forefront of knowledge, I just recently discovered the future of technology. It is something straight out of science-fiction. Artificial intelligence.

There has always been a "creative divide" between those who are creative and those who are not. Unlike other skills or abilities, non-creative types have difficulty finding value in creativity. Just ask any author or artist who has been offered "exposure" instead of actual pay for their efforts.

Now, that divide is being filled, one giant shovel-full at a time, by AI. Non-creative people no longer need to go through artists at all. A simple sentence or two and within seconds, they have exactly what they need. If not, just tweak the sentence. All for free or minimal cost at most. And it is just starting.

Already, designers, illustrations, painters, and photographers should be concerned. The technology exists and it fairly good at replacing them entirely. It is only going to get better.

The very nature of artificial intelligence is that it is cumulative in assessing, amassing, and developing ability. And this is not just cumulative but geometric. The more people that use the technology, the better it gets. That means style, technique, and the creative nuances are improving to the point where they are not just equal but surpass human capability.

Already in development is the ability to write original music, develop computer programming code in any language for any purpose, and problem solve in many areas at lightning speed. Human sculptors, talented chefs, singers, bloggers, content creators, game developers, and even actors are soon to be obsolete.

AI is in its infancy regarding the output of video and voice capabilities, but it is growing at an alarming rate. Do you think a movie production studio is going to hire actors for multi-millions of dollars when they can have computer generated people to do the work for next to nothing and do it better? This also applies to the camera operators and production staff. Will people need movie or television production studios at all?

It has already happened in the film industry. Practical effects have gone the way of the dinosaur in lieu of easier, cheaper CGI. It took just a few decades to happen. It will not take that long to replace every creative individual in Hollywood. Any institution which provides entertainment for profit has been handed a death sentence.

Don't believe me? Think of just how fast video gaming has come in the last fifty years. We have gone from Pong to photorealistic games like the Last of Us in just forty years. 

It is not such a stretch to believe this technology will not progress to the place where ANYONE can simply write a query and within seconds watch a full length movie that rivals any big budget Hollywood production. Add interactivity to that and Hollywood doesn't stand a chance at survival. 

Which brings me to my next lament. Writing.

Creative writing has always been my passion. More than that, actually. My purpose. Creativity is how I have always defined myself.

But I was wrong in my assumption that human creativity had sustainable value. It does not. It can be replaced. It will be replaced.

Which leaves a lot of us wondering who we are. Why are we creative? Unlike John Henry versus railroad automation, we won't even be able to lift a creative finger to help ourselves. In the end, though, the result is the same.

We are on our collective deathbeds.

It is this realization that has taken the wind out of my creative endeavors. I can see the handwriting on the wall. I use to eat, sleep, breathe and exist just using my imagination and dreaming of how I could leverage it into stories to express myself. Now, I just can't seem to muster the energy or enthusiasm to do so.

So, who am I?

I don't know. 

I do know that there are huge masses of us who are facing the next era of human development. Instead of losing our skilled labor to machines and automation, we will be facing the extinction of human creativity to thinking computer programs. If the rapid growth of technology of the past is any indication, we are looking at just a few years or possibly even months before this comes to pass.

Entire industries will fall. 

But what will rise?

Just added: I asked ChatGPT to write a complex type of poem called a Villanelle based on my preceding plight. Ironically, the outlook was much more positive than I have been. Here is it's response:

Sure, I can certainly try! Here is a villanelle based on a writer who believes his creativity is threatened by AI:

The Writer's Lament

My muse, she flees at the sight of AI My creativity, now in decline Robots and machines, they leave me high and dry

Algorithms churn out verse, line by line Their sterile words, they have no soul, no shine My muse, she flees at the sight of AI

My pen lies idle, as if in a bind The fear of being replaced, it is not benign Robots and machines, they leave me high and dry

The craft of writing, it's not so benign My words, my thoughts, my soul, they intertwine My muse, she flees at the sight of AI

But in the end, I know I'll be just fine For human touch, it can't be digitized Robots and machines, they leave me high and dry

So let the robots write their lines divine For true creativity, it's purely mine My muse, she flees at the sight of AI Robots and machines, they leave me high and dry.