Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been making waves in the creative world for years now, sparking both excitement and apprehension. As a writer and illustrator, I've had the opportunity to experiment with various AI tools for both writing and drawing.

This article is simply my point of view and observations as a creative experimenting with various tools (both AI-based and non-AI based). I hope it gives you some things to think about regardless of your opinion on AI.

Is AI Ethical?

The answer to this question depends. I see two main issues here. The first is regarding how AI products are trained. There seems to be a lack of information around this (and you may have seen a number of court cases surrounding this issue). It’s not ethical to pirate someone’s work then use it to train AI. The problem here is that a lot of AI companies aren’t disclosing how they are training their AI products.

Creators want to be paid for their work and they should be. So then the next question is, if a creator’s work is being used to train AI, what is fair pay for this?

The other issue I see around ethics is how the end user is using AI. There are ethical ways to use AI. Asking AI to write or draw like certain people is not ethical. That can result in plagiarism. Plagiarism is never ethical whether it’s being committed by AI or a human. So, if you are using AI, be careful how you are prompting it.

There is also the issue of whether AI generated work can be copyrighted. At the time I’m writing this article, the short answer is “no”.

What I Love About AI

First and foremost, AI tools have become invaluable for boosting my efficiency and productivity. Need a quick brainstorming session? AI can generate a plethora of ideas in seconds. (An idea can’t be copyrighted anyway.) Stuck on a particularly tricky scene or illustration? AI can offer fresh perspectives and unexpected solutions. These tools have essentially become my digital brainstorming partners, helping me push past creative blocks and explore new territories.

Secondly, AI has acted like a writing partner for me. Yes, I would prefer to have a human writing partner, but so far that hasn’t worked out. I can ask AI questions and it responds very similar to how a critique partner would respond. A very nice critique partner, I might add. In my experience, whichever AI program I’m using is always very friendly and supportive. Who doesn’t want an instant confidence boost?

Another consideration for me as a freelance writer is how comfortable my clients are with AI. I have some clients that don’t want me using AI at all, others that fully embrace it, and still others that fall somewhere in the middle. When I’m working with clients, I always take the lead from them and what they’re comfortable with.

What I'm Not So Crazy About

Of course, AI isn't without its drawbacks. One of the biggest challenges is the lack of control and predictability. Sometimes, AI outputs can be wildly off-base or even nonsensical, requiring significant editing and refinement. If you enjoy editing like I do, this can be a fun challenge. It's a bit like working with a talented collaborator with short term memory loss - you never quite know what you're going to get. I’ve had AI use the wrong character name, confuse characters, repeat the same words over and over in the same passage, and write what seems to be the exact opposite of the prompt I entered.

Another concern is the potential for overreliance and deskilling. If I were to lean too heavily on AI tools, I worry I would see a decline in my own creative skills and critical thinking abilities. It's crucial to strike a balance, using AI as a supplement to, not a substitute for, my own creative instincts.

I’ve heard people say there are writers selling books generated by AI and I wonder how they’re doing it. They must be better at prompting the tool than I am, because anything I’ve generated has had to be edited (most of the time substantially so). I haven’t had one piece of AI generated writing that I’ve used as is. The same goes for illustrations. I use AI to see if an idea I have is worth pursuing. Sometimes I will use a color palette or a concept, but I haven’t had AI generate an illustration that I would use as is. I guess that falls outside my ethical comfort level.

The AI Divide and Double Standards

One thing I find interesting is the inconsistency and double standards surrounding AI use. Some people seem perfectly comfortable with AI-generated images but balk at the idea of AI-written text, or vice versa. It's as if there's an arbitrary hierarchy of creative fields, with some deemed more (or less) worthy of AI assistance than others. I’ve seen authors speak out against AI use for writing who admit to using AI generated covers. That seems a bit strange to me.

I also feel like people who have been experimenting with AI are more equipped to identify when AI has been used to create a piece of writing or art. From the research I’ve done, no AI detection tools are accurate and the number of false positives (saying work is AI when it was actually created by a human) are staggering. I read this in Ethan Mollick’s newsletter One Useful Thing which I highly recommend. He writes extensively about AI’s use in education, which is hugely important, and noted that AI detection (specifically GPT-4) is wrong 95% of the time, according to this study. He also wrote a book about AI that I have queued up on my Kindle.

If you want to stay up to date on the legal side of AI (especially regarding copyrighting), I highly recommend Kathryn Goldman’s newsletter and website Creative Law Center.

In my view, AI is simply another tool in the creative toolbox. Just as I wouldn't be judged for choosing a pencil over a paintbrush, I shouldn't be criticized for using AI to enhance my work. Ultimately, the final product is what matters. As long as it’s created in an ethical way, then the tools used to create it shouldn’t matter, should they?

I find it a bit odd that Amazon and other publishers are asking authors to disclose AI use. People use ghostwriters all the time and they don’t have to disclose this. I know, I know, ghostwriters are human, so this is not an accurate comparison, but I do feel like a writer’s and an artist’s process should be somewhat sacred and private if that’s how they want it to be. (Again, provided that their process is ethical.)

The Road Ahead: Human-AI Collaboration

I believe the future of creativity lies in human-AI collaboration. AI can augment our abilities, spark new ideas, and streamline our workflows, but it can't replicate the unique spark of human imagination. Humans still need to prompt AI and that will always be the case, as far as I know. By embracing AI as a partner, not a competitor, and using it as ethically as possible, we can unlock new levels of creativity and productivity.

Once again, I want to remind you that this is simply my opinion. Every creator has to do what’s right for them. I’m having a lot of fun experimenting with all the new tools out there, and I’m looking forward to brining you more reviews on my website so you can follow along if you like.

To answer the question, is it a good idea to use AI as a creative, it really depends. You’ll need to check in with yourself and see what you’re comfortable with. Some places may not accept your work if there was even a hint of AI used to create it. We all need to be vigilant, check contracts, and be upfront about how we’re using AI.