All hat, no cowboy

And herein lies the problem with the sudden surge and interest in artificial intelligence. AI-generated creativity isn’t creativity. It is all hat, no cowboy: all idea, no execution. It in fact relies on the obsession with, and fetishization of, THE IDEA. It’s the core of every get-rich-quick scheme, the basis of every lazy entrepreneur who thinks he has the Next Big Thing, the core of every author or artist or creator who is a “visionary” who has all the vision but none of the ability to execute upon that vision.

From AI and the fetishization of ideas.

Of all the critiques of AI art, this is the one that sticks in my head the most. It rhymes with my takeaways from The World Beyond Your Head, which argues forcefully for a new monism, rejecting mind-body dualism and arguing for an acceptance of people as embodied, living in a world with physical limitations and inconveniences. And skewering the notion that the mind should be thought of as some independent force that is inconvenienced by its inability to directly affect change.

We don't just think about something, come up with the idea, and then enact the idea with our hands, bodies, and tools. The idea and its result are shaped by the tools, what's possible, what we're capable of.

I am reminded of this constantly because of the milieu in which I operate, one that is very psyched about AI. The most recent newsworthy incident was this quote from someone whose business promises to translate your musical ideas directly into music:

It’s not really enjoyable to make music now… it takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of practice, you have to get really good at an instrument or really good at a piece of production software. I think the majority of people don’t enjoy the majority of time they spend making music.

But I encounter a lot of different spins on this now. Becoming a good programmer takes time, so does becoming an artist. What if all the people with ideas but no time or skills or persistence or real interest could participate and turn their ideas into the thing? Surely non-musicians have great ideas for songs that they could turn into great songs if it weren't for the inconvenience of musical instruments.

One way to look at this – not a charitable way, but a view that feels true to me – is that managers view all need for human labor as an inconvenience. In part because they rarely get to experience what it's like to be closer to a creative process, but also because they constantly experience the inconvenience of checking on deadlines and paying invoices. They would simply rather manage a robot than a human, so the only other people they have to interact with are other executives. Peak economic efficiency.

when you don't create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. your tastes only narrow & exclude people. so create. - Why the lucky stiff

A more charitable way to discuss it is to say that creativity, perception, values are all just one big unified thing. I recently completed my first sewing project - a bag for my bicycling trips - and have spent the last week in awe of the quality of my backpack and clothing. I always assumed that constructing clothing was complicated, but now I'm on the subway looking at my ILE bag and lost in thought trying to understand which part was sewed in what order to make it all so neat and durable.

Creating things makes you look at the existing world differently. It makes you more impressed with existing art, music, or whatever to try doing it yourself. It makes you appreciate the effort that has gone into creating the world as it exists right now.

Discussion: Make stuff, on your own, first.