The saying “it’s about the journey, not the destination” has come a long way in guiding us through our efforts towards creativity and innovations. This philosophy has been an eternal message to us encouraging us to treasure the journey, gain from the experience, and appreciate the development that takes place within it. Nevertheless, as we speak, there is a subtle change in the story through the presence of generative AI which is changing our conventional views of the process and the value.
As such, the concept of generative AI is evolving to revolutionise creative processes through a capability that produces astonishingly precise and detailed end products. The emphasis is on the end results of this process as it can quickly create works of art, stories, and other products. Generative AI in this paradigm invariably focuses on the destination—the completed work, because it provides immediate and seamless results based on bypassing the creative process itself.
An example from my personal experience, I had an idea for an app that I had started in my first year of my computer science bachelor’s. I never finished the idea because I had difficulties with specific programming elements and recently wanted to give it another chance. With the help of Github co-pilot (a generative AI for programming), I finished the app within 2 hours. I was happy with the result but felt unsatisfied as it did not feel like I made it myself.
With time, generative AI will become even more sophisticated in its outputs while creating doubts concerning what is really involved in the process of creation. Although the journey is about the missteps, mistakes, and personal development necessary for the ultimate output, the emphasis on the AI-produced result distorts what lies at the heart of this process. Emphasis on efficiency and perfection may unintentionally relegate the inherent worth of the journey into the background which is more than mechanical aspect of, for instance, artistic performance.
However, while moving through this changing terrain, it is important to understand that the purpose of generative AI is to complement, not substitute, the journey. By using the AI capabilities to smooth out some parts of the process, the creators are able to focus on breakthrough, novel things for example. The path, coupled with human inventiveness interweaved with AI advancements, constitutes a significant component in this mutually beneficial association for human-AI symbiosis.
While generative AI may be altering our perception of the creative process, the essence of the journey, with its invaluable lessons and personal growth, remains an irreplaceable aspect of the human experience, regardless of the destination.
Hi Sten,
Your title sparked my interest and upon further reading your piece I think you touch upon a very important aspect of using AI”: the feeling of unsatisfaction when using it, because you did not do it yourself. I think that a lot of people can relate to this feeling, maybe even feeling like they are cheating a little bit. Also with the increasing use of AI tools, this topic will become more and more important. Although it is important to think about how we’re going to deal with this mental hurdle, I do feel that people should not be too hard on themselves. I agree with your statement, in that AI is just a supplement, something that can help us in acomplishing our goals. Because it doesn’t matter how you frame it, AI always needs an order; something to execute. Take your app for example, without your idea, AI would not have just written the code. In addition, you probably would have figured out how to write the code on your own, it just would have taken much longer. This last point is why I think that this feeling of ‘cheating’ should not be the main point of view when using AI. I think its use is becoming irreversible and that we should learn how to work with it, and this narritave of cheating and having to feel ashamed when using it is not helping this cause. As you see, your text is a nice starting point for discussion, which is a strong point. To improve this text, or a future one, it would be great to also add some sources to give it a bit more substance and foundation. It would be interesting to have some other examples of how AI tools simplify tasks and if this unsattisfied feeling is the case for everyone. Though, nice work overall and interesting food for thought.