Artificial intelligence is on everyone’s mind lately, at every level. One thought is that AI can recreate creative content, tell stories, and think creatively as human beings do. From the logical side of things I can see the benefits of AI, particularly in the technology industries where it’s either A or B, one or zero.

Today the discussion is whether or not AI is capable of creative thinking, of looking at an objective problem and doing more than just A or B. Can AI write a creative story without any additional direction or input from its human creator, the one writing the program?

The argument precludes the advent of the programming language from being able to compensate for a myriad of variables, things that you and I do every day that make sense but, in a computing sense, would be next to impossible. Artificial intelligence would have to amass the same amount of input, a wealth of information and learn how to creatively adjust to the parameters of its programming without external input.

How would you program said software? Where would you get all that data from? Would you hire the best writers, storytellers, and content creators to build into your software, providing thousands of hours of brainstorming into a single program? Or would you take a massive shortcut and hire A LOT of subpar writers, creators, and storytellers to get it ‘close,’ thereby eliminating the need to hire the best?

I would hire a lot on the cheap, doing my best to shortcut the process and put out something to get ahead of the market right before someone else stole the idea, taking away the possibility of me capitalizing on the market share. If my bottom line depends on getting the program to the consumers, I need someone to work fast, not at the best. We can improve it after its release because we’ll get a handle on the share slingshotting us ahead of any potential competition.

If I am a talented content creator, storyteller, or writer is trading my time, energy, and creativity for a paycheck worth handing over my skills to a software program? Is it worth knowing my work will eventually get handed over to a program sold as doing it better and faster than I could? How quickly would I go to work for someone willing to exploit and sell what I do?

My creativity is mine.

I will not give it up.

Not for free.