The Dawn of Artificial Imagination
For years, fears about the disruptive potential of automation and artificial intelligence have centered on repetitive labor: Perhaps machines could replace humans who do secretarial work, accounting, burger-flipping. Doctors, software engineers, authors—any job that requires creative intelligence—seemed safe. But the past few months have turned those narratives on their head. A wave of artificial-intelligence programs, collectively dubbed “generative AI,” have shown remarkable aptitude at using the English language, competition-level coding, creating stunning images from simple prompts, and perhaps even helping discover new drugs. In a year that has seen numerous tech hype bubbles burst or deflate, these applications suggest that Silicon Valley still has the power to, in subtle and shocking ways, rewire the world.
A reasonable reaction to generative AI is concern; if not even the imagination is safe from machines, the human mind seems at risk of becoming obsolete. Another is to point to these algorithms’ many biases and shortcomings. But these. Our brains have largely benefited from calculators, computers, and even internet search engines, after all.
