AI, Mobile Computing, and Creativity
I have been thinking more about the issues that people are taking with AI are more the fault of the web and mobile computing. To expand, GenAI is trained on the internet, which is marketed as an index of human intelligence. Is it though? The debates that AI is chipping away at critical thinking, cognition, human engagement, and more, is really just a condensed version of the web. That is what it was trained on from the start.
To spare coming off as a sort of digital doomsday prepper, I have been reflecting heavily on how I spend my time and attention. How do I want to engage with creative acts? How do I want to spend my days being active? Most importantly, how do I want to spend my days with those closest to me? I don't care to expand on how much the web has given humanity, or taken away, and the problems with it are blamed on the usual suspects: social media, troll culture, 4chan, etc., and now on the ubiquitous "GenAI". It's the role of any older generation to pine and whine about the good ol' days, but with the rise of the above came the rise of mobile computing that kept everyone hooked on this thing. Since when did we lose control over how, how much, when, and where we engage with any of the above, at all?
I am not old enough to remember how it was to engage with computers in any deep way before the net, except of course for [cd\doom C:\DOOM>doom] and an occasional jaunt with Paint. Not because I always had the net but rater because I didn't care about computers. I never needed one. Given that the overwhelming entirety of my creative work now relies on them, is not lost on me. So how to use this machine without the weight of everything else that comes with it? Some people turn to hardware, modular synthesizers, stuff without "screens", essentially single purpose computers. There are strengths to this just like there are strengths to single purpose AI applications (to be saved for a later date). When factoring in the cost, it becomes prohibitive and wasteful. How much time are you really spending on being creative as opposed to buying tools and gear to acquire a readiness for the next idea that may (not) come your way? And once that readiness is captured, a new form is waiting in its place, for another tool or piece of gear to fulfill...(credit to Diana B. for the readiness conversation!)
Everyone is entitled to their own processes of creativity, life, and livelihood. As I am mine. I use this entry to set up a more regular reflection about my own engagement with these things. Not to be dogmatic but because I spent far too long not thinking about that engagement. And if I wasn't thinking about it, that must mean others weren't either. How much do we really need? Do we really need to be connected all the time? Why are we in such a rush? And for who? The world may want us all to wire to our mobile computers, but we don't have to play along. While technology helps us gain realizations to creative ideas, it's also taking away part of the struggle that makes it special.
I can't blame AI/GenAI for everything. We had these critical thinking problems creeping in well before 2020. The effort required to engage with computers increased as you walk backwards in time. Technology always comes with a cost. AI took what mobile computing was already doing and threw gasoline all over it. The exploitation of labor, societies, and the environment for precious metals for our devices can't be ignored any more than a data center, and that's before the conversation about how much ends up in landfills. I would like to do better by this world and figure out how to use my skills for longevity. None of us are perfect but I feel like I can at least try harder.
Novemeber 1, 2026
Oneonta, NY