The Power of AI in Creativity

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly appearing in the news. It is being hailed as the next step in computing power, perhaps even the evolution of human intelligence. Some even fear it could lead to the extinction of the human race.

Undoubtedly, AI is a powerful tool. When used wisely, it can solve complex problems. It is even being used as the basis of human creativity.

Like it or fear it, AI is here to stay. In this article, we'll explore some of the pros and cons of this new technology.

Is AI as new as we think?

Surprisingly to many, no, it is not. The concept was muted by Alan Turing nearly 75 years ago, in 1950, when he published Computer Machinery and Intelligence. Granted, it's a far cry from what we know today. But in 1955, John McCarthy coined the phrase Artificial Intelligence, AI, in a workshop he ran. In 1958, he developed LISP, a language still used today for AI.

Although there was much interest in AI during the 1970s and 1980s, it stalled due to, among other things, constraints on computing power.

A renewal of interest started about a decade ago and has taken off at a surprising pace in the past few years.

How does AI perform its magic?

AI's primary strength is its ability to analyze vast amounts of data at high speed, searching for patterns and anomalies. This potential puts AI far ahead of anything humans can accomplish unaided.

One way that AI can augment human intelligence is by enabling collaboration and communication between humans and machines. For example, AI can act as a partner or assistant for humans by offering feedback, suggestions, or guidance.

A second way that AI can augment human intelligence is by enhancing our cognitive abilities and skills. For example, AI can help us learn new things faster and more effectively by providing personalized and adaptive learning experiences. Related to these valuable functions are claims that AI can also help us improve our memory. But, like with so much to do with AI, there are warnings of AI affecting human memory.

AI-generated creativity across the board

AI's data mining and analysis can provide new insights, which in turn can generate new ideas.

These ideas can generate novel content, such as images, music, text, and code. This new content can inspire humans to create original works. However, given that they are the sum of all other works online, how original they are is an ongoing debate!

Let's examine examples from different areas to illustrate how AI can augment human intelligence and creativity in practice.

AI in art and design

 AI can help artists create new forms of expression, such as style transfer (combining one image's style with another's content). The ability to create dramatic art from a few simple sentences, called neural style, is beguiling many when they are first introduced to AI.

Generative adversarial networks (creating realistic images from scratch) have become commonplace in many areas, including adverts. This can significantly reduce costs.  Klarma is reported to have saved US$10 million in advertising costs through AI alone!

Music creation revolutionized by AI

AI can help musicians compose new melodies or harmonies using algorithms or models based on data derived from existing music.

It can also mimic human voices so perfectly that complete soundtracks can be produced without the human artists' involvement—read about one example here.

By executing instant deep data diving, AI can also help musicians perform better by providing feedback or assistance during live performances. It can analyze sales and feedback to suggest new tracks or revisions.

AI in Content writing and storytelling

As many students have been quick to exploit, AI can be used to generate articles, theses, and other content.

AI does this by using natural language processing or generation techniques that learn from existing texts or stories. The programs can also help writers edit or revise their texts by providing suggestions or corrections based on grammar or style rules.

The downside is that AI has still not quite mastered native language creation. It is very close, but AI-detection tools have little difficulty highlighting generated text. And there is a definite need to reread anything generated to find apparent mistakes. AI can only understand a certain amount at the moment—if it lacks the data, it will likely make it up!

Paradoxically, content writers are now being used to work on AI-generated content for the Internet to remove the ‘purple prose’. This is the term for the excessively flowery or grandiloquent style AI tends to generate.

AI typically uses exaggerated or pretentious vocabulary – often stringing three or more adjectives together to emphasize a point. Sadly, experienced content writers are now paid far less to normalize AI content than when they wrote it properly!

AI in science and engineering

One of AI's major strengths is its ability to analyze large data sets quickly. This enables researchers to discover new phenomena or solutions by generating hypotheses or results that would have taken weeks, months, or even years before AI.

AI can also help researchers test their findings through simulations or models that mimic the real world.

Is AI getting dumber?

By its very nature, AI is so 'clever' because it can sift through online data at an incredible speed. AI learns through the skillful use of progressive learning algorithms. It analyses structure and regularities in data, enabling pseudo-learning that enables it to acquire skills. An obvious example is the game of chess. By analyzing all the potential moves, it can learn how to beat a grand master.

AI Hallucinations have been the source of much amusement for some time. I asked, 'Who walked across the English Channel the fastest?' and two AI engines I tried gave different answers. Both were (oddly) German men with different names and both achieved this impossible task in 2022. 

AI will create answers if it can't find one. The fake answer then becomes part of the knowledge base which it relies on it the next time a similar question is asked!

When one adds that to the questionable quality of information on places like Reddit and X (Twitter), it's not hard to see how AI might slowly feed itself into stupidity!

But all is not lost. The problem has been noted, and you may rest assured that steps are underway to improve the quality.

AI – good or bad?

AI is a relatively new tool in its current and evolving form. There is much to learn, but already, it is proving invaluable in more parts of our daily lives than we're probably aware of.

There is concern, especially among those familiar with the Terminator movies, that AI could lead to sinister future events.

History is filled with inventions that were deemed dangerous at the time. Trains, phones, light switches, and televisions are four that we take for granted now but which raised serious concerns when first released.

Mankind may seem to have a 'gift' of sidestepping serious problems. Climate change and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (of plastic) may suggest otherwise, but in reality, we are introducing numerous life-changing inventions with increasing frequency that benefit mankind greatly.

AI is simply a tool. Like nuclear power, it can be beneficial or deadly. The choice is ours. AI's potential value for improving many aspects of our daily lives is vast. It's up to us as users to ensure we reap the benefit.

Global Triangles is an AI developer – and user

Global Triangles is a company that helps businesses use AI to improve accuracy and efficiency. It is also using AI for its own internal processes.

Known as an experienced staff augmentation company that provides software development services to clients across the US, Global Triangles uses AI to match the best talent with the best projects. AI does this based on team member skills, preferences, and availability. Global Triangles also uses AI to monitor the progress and quality of the projects and to provide feedback and support to the developers.

Rodrigo Jiménez, the Senior Software Developer at Global Triangles, says that working with AI has improved his creativity and productivity. "AI helps me find the best solutions for the problems I face in my projects. It also helps me learn new things and improve my skills. I feel more confident and motivated when I work with AI," he says.

AI in Practice - Saving Time and Money

Global Triangles enabled one of its clients to use AI to speed up an essential process. This has the potential to save the client time and money.

A human virtual house inspection took 45 minutes to complete. Because of human error, 70% of appraisal reports were rejected. Using AI, Global Triangles created a prototype that reduced the inspection from 45 minutes to 3 minutes and 20 seconds. The previous cost per appraisal was US$11.25. This was reduced to US$0.34c! And with a massive reduction in appraisal rejections.

Learn more about this project at Global Triangles Success Stories.

If you want to discuss an AI project with Global Triangles, contact us today without obligation.