Creativity, Humanity and Self-Judgment
Artificial Intelligence is moving at a pace of light between ChatGPT, AI in our phones, and the new AI image generator. We have access to answering questions and cutting corners that we haven’t had before.
AI art does take one key proponent out of art, it’s human-ness. Our expression. Using AI is not inherently evil, nor are the persons using it evil. But it does take the humanity out of the art and begs to question what is art, if it is machine generated? Does art need a human to be art?
I think this all comes back to a key point; our own judgment of ourselves.
We go to such lengths to avoid rejection of our own creation. Our own judgment of what we create. Is a hand drawn picture in mediocrity and riddled with mistakes more creative than an AI generated image? We judge the AI art less because it is not personal, we, did not create it, the computer did. So critiquing it is critiquing the computer, not ourselves.
I think the debate about AI art and human made art highlights how our own judgment can be an obstacle to our creativity. If we just created, without judgment of ourselves, how would that impact our day-to-day? We have so much opportunity to be creative in our day to day that we squander with the self-judgment or need for efficiency. Our society is readily built more and more on wanting microwave results, quick fixes, and quick outcomes. For example, if we cooked a meal creatively, tried new flavors, hand make a card for a friend, paint a picture for your living room instead of buying it, let go of our need for perfection, and try appreciating our humanity and how that shows up in our creativity with mistakes and scribbles, it could be endearing instead of imperfect. If we could give ourselves the same compassionate outlook we have towards a child’s art in elementary school, or a painting in an exhibition, we can find more joy.
If we let ourselves and our creations have a little more leeway to be imperfect, we may find more joy in a mediocre drawing than a curated AI image. If you struggle with a harsh inner critic or harsh self-judgment, reach out to us. Please contact Life Enhancement Counseling Services at 407-443-8862 to schedule an appointment with one of our licensed mental health counselors. You deserve a friend in yourself, not a competitor or enemy.
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