“Do you think AI will wipe out creativity?” Swami asked me the other day over coffee.
As a writer, that was something on my mind. I had seen some of the recent AI tools and what they could do.
It did feel like some of the AI might help. But it also did feel like some of the AI might replace. So I was non-committal. So I looked towards Jigneshbhai for answers. And Swami followed suit. “Will a writer be out of business? And a musician or a painter too?”
Jigneshbhai sat in silence as usual. He looked up from his coffee and asked me.
“What is a writer supposed to create?” I was taken aback by this sudden question.
“Well… umm.. A writer is supposed to create stories, characters, plots,” I said
“Hmm.. Or for AI, it is simply a stream of words where there were none earlier,” Jigneshbhai said. “And a musician?”
“Umm.. A musician is supposed to create songs, music, symphonies,” I said.
“Hmm.. Or for AI, it is simply a stream of notes where there were none earlier,” Jigneshbhai said. “And a painter?”
“Well.. A painter is supposed to create paintings, landscapes, colours.”
“Hmm.. Or for AI, it is simply a stream of colours where there were none earlier.”
Ok, we were getting the drift. Swami and I still didn’t get an answer. We stared at each other and back at Jigneshbhai. “And a graphics artist?” he looked at Swami this time and asked.
Swami had heard my answers and replied in the same tone. “Well.. A graphics artist is supposed to create images, icons, logos.”
“Hmm.. Or for AI, it is simply a stream of pixels where there were none earlier,” Jigneshbhai concluded. “And a singer?” he asked neither of us in particular. He was not done yet.
And both Swami and I said in unison.. “Well.. A singer is supposed to create songs, melodies, albums.”
And Jigneshbhai said, “Hmm.. Or for AI, it is simply a stream of rhythms where there were none earlier.”
Swami lost patience by now. “Ok – are you going to keep asking us what every creative is supposed to create? There is a lot of creative professions that are left. If you don’t know the answer, at least don’t keep asking questions needlessly,” he asserted.
Jigneshbhai now broke into a smile as he sipped his coffee.
“All of these creatives are important. All of it is going to change,” he finally said. “But that doesn’t mean AI is going to replace the creatives,” he started coming close to an answer. “There is no point in fighting it or resisting it. It is better to embrace it.”
I heaved a sigh of relief on hearing that. I saw the wealthy old man from the sprawling bungalow who had walked to our table. He left us with the parting gift of clarity when he said, “Creatives will continue to create. How they do it will change.”
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