How GenAI disrupts the creative process
I’m about to facilitate a month-long challenge for artists to generate work based on creative prompts called the 30 Days of Side Quests Challenge.
Starting 2/18 at 3pm CST with a live INITIATION call, this challenge is for the artist and closet creative ready to transmute freeze into freedom. There’s still time to sign up before the kick-off call.
In this challenge, I will be asking participants to agree to a set of community guidelines. One of these guidelines is to not use genAI in their Side Quests.
There are a number of reasons for this, including the environmental impact of making this technology available on a massive consumer scale and the general context of extractive capitalism it exists within. I’m skeptical of the industry’s urgency and rapid expansion without a framework rooted in environmental sustainability and economic stability.
I want to talk about generative AI from a different lens: the artist’s lens.
My take is that generative AI is blank-page bypassing.
It’s a disruptor to the creative process.
My creative coaching framework is called Side Quests. In Side Quests, the blank page is a sacred object. The canvas of nothingness is both daunting and exhilarating. Starting from scratch holds the excitement and anxiety of possibility, potential and new beginnings.
GenAI allows us to bypass certain parts of the creative process.
GenAI is not a blank slate.
It’s a database. It’s processing archival material. If it can produce art, that means it’s been fed art. And where does that art come from, if not living and breathing human beings?
Between record companies signing AI-generated musicians to the “creation” of AI-generated actresses, generative AI creates a slippery slope of copyright infringement and artistic license. It has sparked a collective dialogue about the ethical gray areas of this technology.
I understand why people get addicted to it. It’s easy. It provides endless possibilities (seemingly). It’s instantly gratifying.
GenAI erodes our capacity and tolerance for uncertainty, struggle, and error in the creative process.
Uncertainty, struggle and error are vital to the creative process. We have to make mistakes to become more skilled. We have to face uncertainty if we are to take responsibility for our creations. We have to struggle with limitations because they expand our ability to be present with discomfort.
Frustration and creative blocks suck. I’m not pretending that I like these experiences just because I think they’re necessary to the process of art-making.
It feels agonizing to stare at a blank page and have nothing to say. It feels daunting to look at a novel manuscript and have no idea where to start revisions.
But here’s the thing. Discomfort is where the good shit happens. Our boredom, our frustration, our limitations are where creativity truly blossoms. The creative process is not valuable simply because of its output.
The creative process is an experience. It gifts us the opportunity to transform.
There’s a lot of value in surrendering to the unknown, and most of it can’t be measured. It can only be felt.
Our boredom, our frustration, our limitations are where creativity truly blossoms.
People who are using genAI are missing out on the glorious, messy experience of creation. Generating a painting or a story or a short film is reward without struggle. It’s not a journey. You don’t go anywhere. You don’t make any mistakes. You don’t win anything.
For me, the cost of using generative AI for art-making is too high. I don’t want to outsource my analytical skills. I don’t want to fast-forward through the adventure. My passion for creativity and exploration keeps me alive. I’m not making art just to have a product. I’m making it because it’s a genuine desire.
I want to be creative, even when it’s hard.
My creative coaching philosophy emphasizes process over product. It embraces discomfort, challenges and feeling stuck as normal parts of the process. AI-generated art is incompatible within my framework.
I’m the creative coach for the artists who want to get their hands dirty.
Long live the blank page!
