Why AI won't replace the enjoyment of creating

I was chatting with a copywriter last month and we inevitably got onto the subject of AI, but more specifically, how it’s now generating music for streaming platforms.

He is a copywriter who loves writing and is really good at it. Yes he may use AI to help along the way but he would never use AI to create a whole piece. Simply because he enjoys the act of writing.

As a designer and artist, I feel the same. Creating is a fundamental part of who I am. Yes I love a bit of Generative Expand in Photoshop but I currently only use it to save time and you have to be super careful of what it produces as some of the results are extremely questionable!

The point is, creative people don’t just value the finished product, we value the process itself. If AI takes that away, what’s left? I find pleasure in creating a brochure or retouching an image myself so why would I want AI to do that for me? Although I did have a bit of fun in creating this avatar of me. The hyper realistic version was not so good however!

Of course, tools have always changed how we create. When Adobe software first appeared, I imagine many traditional artists and typesetters feared their skills would be lost. Yet technology made us faster, more versatile, and ironically even more creative. It was progress, and we adapted. Old roles faded, new ones emerged, and the cycle continues.

For example the birth of online shopping reshaped the high street, but also opened global opportunities for small businesses. Shops are shifting toward experiences you can’t replicate online such as themed bars and restaurants as well as salons and new leisure activities.

And that’s the thing, we will continue to adapt. Our digital lives can leave us craving physicality, creativity, and movement, so we invent new outlets and experiences - escape rooms, trampoline parks, pottery classes, art and craft sessions. What was once work has now become leisure, purely because the human need to create and move will always be there.

Like a river finding its way to the sea, we’ll always find a path to what we need. If one source closes, we’ll invent another. We just need to remain open minded and ride the technology revolution.

So I am looking forward to playing more with AI and seeing what else we can do with it, how much more creative we can get and what new opportunities emerge from this AI disruption.

I also joked with my friend that we didn’t need AI to do our work for us, because that’s what made us - us. We just need someone to do the housework for us while we work!