Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic in the world of creativity, with some arguing that it enhances creativity for individuals, while others claim it leads to a surplus of similar stories. Recent research has shed some light on this debate, suggesting that AI can indeed help people become more creative, but it also poses a risk of reducing overall creativity in society.
The use of AI in art has been a topic of discussion since the emergence of large language models nearly two years ago. Companies like OpenAI have promoted their AI tools as aids for artists to boost their creative output. While some writers have embraced AI as a creative tool, many others have voiced doubts and even filed lawsuits, alleging copyright infringement in the tools’ training data.
In an effort to investigate AI’s impact on creativity, economist Oliver Hauser from the University of Exeter collaborated with Anil Doshi from the University College London School of Management. They recruited nearly 300 individuals who were not professional writers and asked them to write an eight-sentence story. Some participants had to come up with their ideas, while others were given starter ideas generated by the ChatGPT 4.0 chatbot.
The stories were evaluated based on their novelty and usefulness by a group of 600 judges. The results, published in Science Advances, revealed that stories written with AI assistance were considered more novel and useful. Participants who had access to AI-generated ideas saw an increase in creativity, with the least creative individuals benefiting the most.
However, the study also uncovered a social dilemma: while AI helped individuals become more creative, the collective diversity of novelty in the group that used AI was reduced. This phenomenon highlights the potential risk of decreased creativity at a societal level if AI tools become widely adopted.
Science fiction author and journalist Annalee Newitz expressed skepticism about quantifying creativity in percentages but acknowledged that using AI to generate story ideas often resulted in similar narratives. Newitz highlighted how AI tends to draw from common clichés and internet memes due to its training on vast text datasets.
The study’s warning about a potential decline in creativity has already manifested in the sci-fi community, with publications like Clarkesworld facing an influx of AI-written story submissions. Newitz emphasized that creative writing is fundamentally about human expression and communication, suggesting that AI tools may miss the essence of storytelling.
In conclusion, while AI can enhance individual creativity, there are concerns about its impact on overall creativity and diversity in society. The debate over AI’s role in creativity continues, underscoring the complex interplay between technology and human expression in the creative process.
