We are at a fascinating phase of the coexistence of humanity and machines. Ideas that were once deemed inconceivable are now within reach. The advent of ChatGPT has radically altered the landscape of artificial intelligence and, by extension, human existence. The fact that the tools can be utilized by anyone without any prior knowledge of technology is arguably the most important part of this. ChatGPT has proven itself capable of a wide range of difficult tasks, including passing exams designed to assess human intelligence and aptitude, writing detailed responses to questions on virtually any topic, and solving complex problems. There’s no denying that AI has been displacing individuals from positions that can be accomplished with AI tools, but now the topic of whether or not AI can match human creativity has emerged as a central one.
What Makes A Human Creative?
Being creative has always been one of the primary attributes that set humans apart from machines. If we want to know if AI can match or surpass human creativity, we need to know how the human brain works at its most creative. How did artists like Picasso and Beethoven create such extraordinary works of art? The precise mechanism of human creativity is still unknown, but research has demonstrated that it requires a number of different cognitive processes to operate together in a dynamic fashion across extensive brain networks. Generating new ideas or repurposing old ones in a way that yields something fresh and “relevant” is a broad definition of creativity. The prefrontal cortex has been hypothesized to play a central role (albeit not the only one) in mediating creative activity, though this is still a hypothesis. The temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes, which are primarily involved in perceptual and memory-related activities, process and store sensory information. The prefrontal cortex then integrates this highly processed information in order to carry out the more sophisticated activities necessary for creative thinking, such as self-reflection, abstract thought, and planning. The parts of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex are responsible for attention and working memory, both of which are crucial to creative behavior. Any sort of creative behavior requires the ability to maintain attention on a single task and the capacity to mentally store and retrieve information from one’s working memory. However, it has been found that the quantity of information that can be kept in working memory and the amount of central executive processing that can be conducted in parallel are both capacity-constrained by the focus of attention.
Can AI Be As Creative As A Human?
As we discussed, information is an essential, if not necessary, ingredient in the creative process. This is the primary benefit of AI in terms of displaying creative behaviors. Here, AI can have a significant edge because it can store considerably more information than a person can and can therefore develop a limitless number of fresh ideas by combining these stored pieces of data in a variety of ways. More information than any human being could possibly remember is used to train ChatGPT and other large language models. This means the stuff it can produce is capable of being significantly higher in detail, sophistication, complexity, and, to a degree, uniqueness. However, appropriateness, the second distinguishing feature of creativity, is not directly inherent to AI. Appropriateness is based on complex and constantly changing rules. We live in a world where the definition of appropriate and relevance changes more frequently than it did earlier. In addition, ChatGPT, like many other large-language models, is trained on data amassed over time; thus, its output will inevitably be influenced by the art of the past. That means that throughout time, representations of racial, gender, and age bias that were present in earlier works will begin to appear in AI art as well.
In addition, it would lack the sole quality of being a human. There is often a reflection of the artist’s personal life in the work they produce, including their joys and sorrows. That element of the artist’s personality shining through in their work is crucial for the art and the spectator. It’s a conversation between the artist and spectator, sharing their stories and experiences. On the contrary, AI-generated artwork merely reflects previously-existing artwork; while it may reflect a blend of the works of multiple artists, it cannot separate itself into something that deep and meaningful because it didn’t and can’t go through the same experience. It can’t take you through the same roller-coaster ride of emotions and experiences. Artificial intelligence creates computer programs that are logical and systematic. Therefore, they lack the spontaneity and adaptability of human innovation. Artificial intelligence is designed to carry out specific tasks. It will always behave predictably since it is constrained by these rules. It can produce faultless artwork, but the many flaws that human-created art has that mirror the flaws of the artist are what make it beautiful.
There is no doubt though, that AI cannot make the creative process a lot easier than it used to be. For instance, artists can brainstorm ideas, ask for help, or learn something in their respective art. Still, it’s not out of the question that AI-generated artwork could become increasingly pervasive in the future, which would undoubtedly cause us to reevaluate our own conceptions of what constitutes creative work. AI would also be ahead of the curve in many other areas, including creativity. That in itself could have far-reaching consequences for the way we live in the future if it leads to a deeper understanding of what it is that makes us human.