Artificial intelligence has gone from being teased as a thing of the future and science fiction to
dominating our reality at an alarming rate. The rapid growth and integration of AI into society should be a progressive development, yet has led to an over-dependency on artificial intelligence rather than our own intellect. Regressing from our independence and human capability is a sure sign that AI becoming socially accepted does more harm than good.
AI intrudes every corner of the internet through adverts and social media; it’s even at the
forefront of any google search, shoving incorrect answers in our faces before we can question their legitimacy. AI’s easy access has caused us to depend on it even for mundane, simple tasks. ‘Chatbots’ create shopping lists and become ‘friends’ to talk to at the click of a button, learning how to respond satisfactorily to its consumer with the more its accessed. AI has diminished our human connection by handling customer service and controlling transportation such as self-driving cars.
It has even taken over the arts; generating artwork, music, creative writing and starting to fill acting roles. Our overuse of this dystopian technology is evidently detrimental to our independence and human connection.
The recent rise of the artificial intelligence ‘actress’, Tilly Norwood, has caused an outrage.
Unveiled by AI studio, Particle6, at the Zurich Film Festival, held between the 25th of September until the 5th of October, this lifelike, generated character poses as an imitation modelled off real actresses.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), including A-listers Emily Blunt and Whoopi Goldberg, have spoken up about the damaging effects of AI within their industry.
Blunt’s disappointed reaction to the AI actress was stated in an interview with Variety, pleading ‘Please stop taking away our human connection’. SAG-AFTRA condemned Norwood’s creation as ‘a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers’.
This immortal, fictional character simply mirrors reality and takes away human connection through artificial generation.
Undoubtedly, AI will continue to grow as a threat to human creativity and connection. Seemingly
comical, futuristic fears of AI taking over our need for humans in physical workspaces, education and art are becoming realistic, with AI’s instant generation of information or ‘art’ making it a mimicking machine which regurgitates human work. At the rate AI is developing, our human connection will be replaced by artificial companionship.
There is no stopping a growing societal shift such as AI, and AI in relation to the arts is often
justified as a creative outlet in itself. Eline Van der Velden, the creator of Tilly Norwood, stated on Norwood’s Instagram page that this is ‘not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work- a piece of art’. Despite a creative mind existing behind this AI generation, it cannot be justified as a wholly human ‘piece of art’. Immortality and perfection go against nature, making Norwood a dangerous imitation of humanity.
As society progresses with this growing technology, so does the growing fear that AI will overtake the need for human companionship and creativity. As we learn to coexist with AI as part of our ever- growing ecosystem, the clue is in the name; this ‘intelligence’ is simply artificial, yet poses a threat to our independence, creativity and connection.
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