With the rise of more advanced technology, I think people are forgetting how much time it used to take for things to be created, and work is being devalued as a result. Not to sound older than I am, but time and skill can produce the same results as our modern tools, and sometimes the fastest result is not the best.  

In my anthropology class, we discuss all the time how ancient civilizations built and invented the predecessors of modern technology by just using an ample amount of time and human labor. The pyramids are an excellent example of how humans created monuments without the use of power tools or modern machinery. While we could create similar architectural feats today, those monuments would still pale in comparison to those created in the ancient world.  

In the same vein, artificial intelligence (AI) is running rampant and, in my opinion, unchecked in our society. Everything from the arts to academia now have AI that can “create” substitutes for what humans can do and are marketed as faster alternatives to human behaviors. Sites like ChatGPT are designed to write and sound like a human but will always lack the authenticity of someone truly writing and brainstorming.  

Do not get me wrong, I think AI is a powerful tool for humans, and it has the ability to help us develop further. However, the sticking point is when people view the text and images made by these algorithms to have the same value as those made by a person.  

AI art is nothing more than art theft, as the databases used to source their creations steal from actual artists who have worked for years on their craft. Yes, it can be a good tool to develop ideas for compositions, but really it only expedites the process artists have done for centuries. Observing the natural world, reviewing others’ work and imagining what could be are the key principles for an artist’s development. While AI can do all of these faster, it cannot give humans the same output of learning as the traditional method does.  

I have heard a lot of people argue that ChatGPT is a great resource for spawning writing prompts and reworking their own ideas, and I agree that it can be. AI is meant to be used as a tool, not as a cop out for writing your own work. I saw multiple people saying online “Why would I bother to read something no one could be bothered to write?” and I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. While these algorithms speed up the process of writing, there is a lot of value in developing through other means, and voice is everything in a piece. Writing is meant to give you a glimpse into someone else’s world, and AI simply cannot capture those complexities in a genuine way.  

There is value in doing things the long way, but AI is allowing for work to be simplified to the detriment of those doing it. I perseverated for seven days about writing this article and  

never once thought to use AI. While we can always find a faster way to accomplish a goal, sometimes the true worth of our actions is in the doing not the end. 

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