Yes, I would like a slice of that lemon pound cake!

 

 

 

How do you see AI changing the landscape for better or worse for authors? 

Let me be transparent from the start. I am firmly in the No-AI-in-the-arts camp. Even so, I had my doubts about the ability to stuff this pervasive genie back into the bottle. AI has infiltrated virtually every facet of our lives without our even noticing. Now that we are noticing, it’s too late to stop it. From the time Alexa wakes me up in the morning until my smart lights plunge me into darkness at night, AI is there, helping me cook, checking my health, directing my driving, and my steps. So then, how could I expect it wouldn’t worm its way into the arts, specifically storytelling.

Enter Afroman. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, congratulations! Somehow, you’ve managed to shield yourself from the invasive tentacles of the internet, and possibly all forms of modern communication of the 21^st century.

Afroman, a rapper, singer, poet, of a sort, was erroneously (on purpose) targeted by his local police as a possible drug-dealing kidnapper. They invaded his home, destroyed his property, and terrified his family. The result, the most brilliant series of revenge albums ever made.

You may have never heard of Afroman, may never have, or ever will, listen to an Afroman song in your life. That’s fine. But if you’re an artist, especially an artist that uses words as your medium, his story is relevant to you. Because, his ability to take a real-life situation and reshape it into creative gold can never be duplicated by AI. I just don’t believe that’s possible. Why not? Emotion. Creativity is all about emotion, in my mind. Afroman, along with every artist who’s ever sat down and created something out of nothing was inspired by an emotion. Our characters act out of emotion. Our readers react to our emotion.

AI may can write about emotion, but it can’t fake the feelings that lead to a whole song written about a rogue sheriff and his lust for lemon pound cake. Look it up and thank me later.  And we should all feel better about that.