Right now, the use of AI is a driving conversation in creative industries, sports fields, the healthcare sector and more. But the question is, can AI actually replace creative jobs?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been rapidly expanding into areas outside of just technology roles. From what used to be a driving tool to be used as a benchmark for finding better resources, creating useful prompts and spotting spelling and grammatical errors, AI has since advanced into a much more prominent beast in almost all walks of careers…especially creative jobs.
The debate that seems to be ongoing right now is whether or not this technology can actually replace creative job roles. But this isn’t the first time we’re hearing this. For decades, we’ve seen it in sci-fi movies where technology gets out of hand and suddenly takes over the world. Or in that one Black Mirror episode, ‘Be Right Back‘, among others. There are plenty of superstitions as to whether technology has the power to actually override human qualities, skills, and creativity. But we’re here to reassure you, we are quite some time away from that scary ‘reality.’
A Brief Introduction to AI
Contrary to current belief, AI has been around since the early 1900s. In 1921, Czech playwright Karel Čapek wrote a play titled ‘Rossum’s Universal Robots,’ which was all about exploring the potential of computerised technology. Since then, the world has lived with AI for a century, and so far, creative roles have remained in the hands of humans. Over the years, many scientists have adopted AI as a means to uncover the limits of computerised technology.
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In 1950, Alan Turing famously published a philosophical, mathematical paper titled ‘Computer Machinery and Intelligence‘ exploring the theory of whether AI technology could recreate human knowledge and skills efficiently. Two years later, Arthur Samuel developed AI technology, which allowed him to play checkers against a computer. Since these beginnings, AI has been represented in the world in many ways.
Whether it’s the 2014 edition of Amazon Echo (Alexa), the first voice-assisted speaker system. Or, the facial recognition you use to unlock and lock your mobile phones daily. Or perhaps even the use of Uber. A public transport system which uses AI to track riders’ whereabouts to connect them with a nearby driver.
The truth is, we have lived in a world with AI for decades. It’s not a completely new concept, and arguably, in the century it’s been developing, the importance of a human touch in jobs remains primitive. However, AI has definitely evolved more rapidly in the last three years. And the conversation as to whether it can take away creative roles isn’t completely irrational.
How is AI a Threat To Creative Industries?
AI is a current threat to creative industries because we’re seeing more and more companies swap out authentic, innovative, human art with the work of AI technology. Often, because the latter is more time-effective, companies don’t have to pay for technology. Whereas it has to, of course, finance people. Lastly, because AI can replicate almost efficiently. These are just a few of the reasons why AI is a threat to creative industries, because from a business standpoint, it cuts out all of the noise and gets straight to the point.
In recent weeks, British actor Jake Wood, who is famously known for playing Max Brannon in the TV drama EastEnders, posted a photo on his Instagram, standing next to a painting he ‘created’ of David Attenborough. Wood has since deleted any trace of this painting, in addition to The Incredible Art Gallery, which was originally advertising it at an exhibition.
This comes after floods of backlash, after people discovered that the paintings the actor was selling were AI-generated. And that he’d only added a touch of paint on top. Thus, revealing that it’s not actually his own artwork. He hasn’t spent countless hours mastering David Attenborough’s facial structure. He’d quite literally just copied and pasted the image with the use of AI and added a final touch.
This is one of the many examples proving the threat AI has in creative industries. Allowing people to pose as artists and exploit the creativity and individuality embedded within this art form. And there are many other stories of a similar vein to both of these. AI in creative industries allows people to care less. To become lazy, using shortcuts to get to final destinations more conveniently. However, this strips away the fun of working in the creative industry.
Creative industries are meant to challenge you. It’s through these challenges that you learn to overcome obstacles, tap into different areas of your brain, and develop new skills. Our brains love learning, and scientists have spent years advising us on ‘brain food,’ and activities that help keep our brains healthy. If we as a society decide to use AI as a benchmark for creativity, it means we’re constantly taking shortcuts. We’re constantly resolving issues without using our brains. We aren’t fueling our brains, instead, we’re reducing its capacity to think critically.
If you thought you struggled to think straight, creatively, executively or critically before AI, we promise you, if you rely on it to craft your opinions, your ability to do all of the above will shrink dramatically.
How Can AI Be Used As a Tool for Creative Industries?
Comparatively, there are ways AI can be useful in the creative sector. And ways it is already proving to be. For example, the writing assistant software, Grammarly, is an AI-certified tool. It allows writers to spell check their work, in addition to any punctuation and grammar errors. This is a super helpful tool for writers, especially for people with disabilities such as dyslexia, ADHD or dyspraxia.
Additionally, there are other ways in which AI has proven to be a useful asset for creative roles. Such as transcription sites like Otter, Chat GPT and HappyScribe. These sites, and others that operate in transcribing audio into text, use AI to achieve this. For people who regularly conduct interviews, and sometimes lengthy ones of an hour or more, having a subscription to a transcription site is imperative. It helps cut down on time, and while most people will have to listen to the audio to cross-check that the information pulled from the website was correct, this saves crucial time for the writer.
Other ways AI can be useful in the creative sector are certainly limited. However, there’s no denying that it can be put to use.
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Can AI Actually Replace Creative Job Roles?
AI can’t work without the development of human beings. It is currently thriving because we, as a society, continue to feed it. Whether in accounting job roles, journalistic roles, the film and TV world, social media, or arts and lifestyle. So long as CEOs and scientists continue to develop AI, it remains a threat in creative job roles.
However, there is a way for humans and AI to coexist without one threatening the other. And we know that because we have gotten this far. Right now, there are countless new job opportunities, advertising roles where humans develop AI tools. This is single-handedly pushing people out of key creative opportunities.
AI might be able to think like a human, but it can’t deliver like one. There are pros in being human that AI can’t replicate. And while many businesses think using AI in creative roles reduces the mistake rate, it is purely fact and statistic-driven. Thus, it isn’t likely to take risks or chances. And the creative industry is all about risk-taking and challenging yourself. Adapting skills through trial and error. Factors, all of which are human-made.
Again, this isn’t to say AI doesn’t make errors. We’ve all seen how the ‘AI overview’ that pops up at the top of our Google search is often wrong. Moreover, there’s only so far AI can take us. Since it is we who continue to feed this machine.
The development of AI is certainly threatening creative jobs right now. But there are still ways for us to fight that struggle, while simultaneously taking advantage of AI as a useful tool for our own work.
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Laviea Thomas is a journalist at Inside Success who writes about film, music and politics.
Outside of that, she is an experienced freelance journalist with bylines in NME, The Quietus, Metal Hammer and more.
Over the years, Laviea has been an active panellist discussing fundamental conversations in the music industry, such as diversity and inclusion, and the importance of grassroots venues. She has been a panel guest for Kerrang! Focus Wales Festival, Future Yard and more.
