I agree with you completely. It's so important -- not just because of AI -- for us to remember that the creative act is reason enough to create, and that the opportunity to connect with one another through that act can never be taken from us if we don't lay down and roll over and let it be taken. Thank you for sharing! I'm headed over to read Laurence's essay right now!
Yes to all of this! As you know, I someday hope to write a book about these themes. 😉 And while the financial consequences of AI are definitely concerning--fewer people paid for creative work, fewer people able to afford to do creative work--I find the perspective that AI will take away our desire to do creative work just...odd? I take pottery classes and I love throwing mugs. I'm getting pretty good at it, and I bring different ones to the coffee shop. It's not because I need a mug. I have plenty of mass-produced coffee mugs, and if I needed another one, I could buy one for Way less that I spend on pottery class. Or I could stop and use the mugs I've already made. But I keep going because there is more to learn! The allure of the wheel is intoxicating! There are so many more things to learn--a lifetime of them. I do pottery because I like *doing* pottery.
I could say so much more about the importance of creative outlets, how I only really unlocked my creative self once I *stopped* aiming for marketability or the prospect of selling my work. I'll spare you all that, and end with the fact that I don't think people who don't do art understand how cathartic art can be, and that it doesn't have to be "good" to be so. Our culture likes to think of art as some frilly little extra, a side of guacamole for those who can afford it, instead of an intrinsic human act.
I agree with you completely. It's so important -- not just because of AI -- for us to remember that the creative act is reason enough to create, and that the opportunity to connect with one another through that act can never be taken from us if we don't lay down and roll over and let it be taken. Thank you for sharing! I'm headed over to read Laurence's essay right now!
Yes to all of this! As you know, I someday hope to write a book about these themes. 😉 And while the financial consequences of AI are definitely concerning--fewer people paid for creative work, fewer people able to afford to do creative work--I find the perspective that AI will take away our desire to do creative work just...odd? I take pottery classes and I love throwing mugs. I'm getting pretty good at it, and I bring different ones to the coffee shop. It's not because I need a mug. I have plenty of mass-produced coffee mugs, and if I needed another one, I could buy one for Way less that I spend on pottery class. Or I could stop and use the mugs I've already made. But I keep going because there is more to learn! The allure of the wheel is intoxicating! There are so many more things to learn--a lifetime of them. I do pottery because I like *doing* pottery.
I could say so much more about the importance of creative outlets, how I only really unlocked my creative self once I *stopped* aiming for marketability or the prospect of selling my work. I'll spare you all that, and end with the fact that I don't think people who don't do art understand how cathartic art can be, and that it doesn't have to be "good" to be so. Our culture likes to think of art as some frilly little extra, a side of guacamole for those who can afford it, instead of an intrinsic human act.
Exactly!