We’ve all seen what artificial intelligence has done to news feeds, for better or worse. What AI can do for content creation is a developing topic of interest. AI is commonly seen as a tool for performing monotonous activities such as transcribing or data-intensive labour. Machine-generated material, on the other hand, has long been considered a gimmick. With AI developments, we are beginning to see indications of where AI might compete with human ingenuity. AI is on the verge of causing a creative revolution.
For example, the featured image of this post, was created using a text to image AI tool.
Although automated journalism is not new, it has hitherto been restricted to sports tales and profit reports. Stories in which a certain variable, such as a score, is crucial to the nature of the final story are ideal for this type of journalism. Companies such as Automated Insights and Narrative Science have aided in the “offshoring” of this labour to robots. It doesn’t always have the drama of a human-written tale, but it gets the job done.
Certain tasks are better performed by robots than by people, and vice versa. Machines are extremely quick, efficient, predictable, and capable of doing complex computations. Humans are more intuitive, creative, adaptive, and, most importantly, grasp the overall context and how the world works.
However, we are approaching a tipping point in which machines are infiltrating the creative and generating processes. We’re seeing it initially in picture production, but we should anticipate it to spread to things like PowerPoint presentations, business plans, movies, and text editing. Some AI applications to the creative process might spark a seismic upheaval in the world of media.
AI versus Artist
You may be acquainted with Dall-E, an artificial intelligence that turns words into unique and creative works of art. When I typed in “A journalist working on a story for a newspaper in the manner of Picasso,” an AI named “MidJourney” (a less expensive version of Dalle-E) generated this image for me.
A new innovation in Dall-E allows the human user to write in picture modifications. They can say things like “change the colour of the reporter’s headgear to green” using normal language. When it comes to video, I really find this editing capabilities more intriguing than the initial picture production itself.
But first, a word to people who are concerned about being replaced by robots. AI will improve and enhance human creativity rather than replace it. Of course, this is debatable, but I am firmly in this belief. What follows is thrilling and innovative rather than catastrophic, so let’s assume there won’t be robot rulers anytime soon.
Let us apply the breakthroughs we’ve witnessed from Dall-E to a field like video. Even the most imaginative writer can’t create a picture nowadays unless they have talents in a completely non-overlapping magisteria. The divide between natural language and video production is just too wide. However, this may not always be the case. We’re already witnessing natural language video editing. Runway ML, a startup, allows you to modify the background of a scene simply by typing.
Perhaps in the future, this will be supercharged to the point where I can make a movie simply by typing — “change camera angle” or “change scenery” — or I will be able to edit old movies and swap actors or wardrobes.
Perhaps in the future, I’ll be able to construct a movie just by typing — “change camera angle” or “change scenery” — or I’ll be able to modify existing movies and exchange characters or clothes.
This takes us to text articles, the bread and butter of journalism. Perhaps AI cannot write more than sports and business tales today, but I can envision a time in which an AI can edit initial manuscripts into polished works appropriate for publication.
There Is A Strong Use Case
Journalism, like most things, will not always be on the front lines of development. I believe that innovative multimedia material for fictional narrative, such as photographs and movies, will catch the majority of AI momentum. Microsoft recently announced the inclusion of Dalle-E 2 in its Microsoft Designer programme and Image Creator tool. However, this will have an impact on other aspects.
Imagine being able to express an Excel calculation in natural language and having an AI translate it into an Excel native formula. There is also an AI for it.
It won’t change what it means to obtain an MBA, but it will eventually lead to business strategies and pitch decks led by an AI’s “insights.” Marketing, architecture, instructional classes, website design, and other services follow.
In the end, AI is not creative in the same sense that humans are. AI is essentially a set of sophisticated mathematical equations that develop over time to achieve a specified objective. The nature of computing hasn’t changed, except that instead of seeking for distinct and accurate answers, we’re now asking computers for creative responses, with success measured by the utility of the end output.
This novel approach to creativity, which capitalises on computer capabilities, will propel human innovation ahead. It will improve how people perceive, interact, and construct our reality.