* This is a difficult question to answer.
Nearly 70 years ago, in 1956, the concept of “Artificial Intelligence - AI” first appeared when it was introduced by American computer scientist - John McCarthy at the Dartmouth Conference to describe the science and technology of creating intelligent machines that can imitate human behavior.Obviously, John McCarthy could not have imagined the future of AI coming to humans so soon and affecting almost every field.
In 2004, 20 years ago, the American distributor 20th Century Fox released a blockbuster film titled “I, Robot” - the Vietnamese title is “Robot noi luan”. The film is set in the future, in 2035, when robots have become familiar and are effective assistants to humans in many daily tasks. However, there are things that humans cannot foresee when entrusting everything to these soulless robots. The filmmakers mentioned 3 strict rules to control the excessive actions of human-shaped machines. First, robots are not allowed to harm humans in any case. Second, they must obey the orders given by humans except for those that violate the first rule. Finally, they must protect their existence as long as that existence does not contradict the previous two rules.
But at least “I, Robot” still presents the principles and limits of artificial intelligence, but in reality, with the current development of AI, it seems that there are no specific limits. Even with current technology, with the necessary commands and data, AI can produce the movie “I, Robot” without the role of human creativity playing a significant role.
Recently, OpenAI released an AI model that creates videos from text for users, initially for paid ChatGPT Plus and Pro accounts. Through the Sora Turbo feature, users can create videos with the highest resolution of 1080p, up to 20 seconds long, and wide, vertical, or square aspect ratios. OpenAI said it will block the creation and upload of harmful images, such as child sexual abuse content, sexual forgery. Making a movie with AI is no longer a far-fetched thing.
In the field of painting, in November, at Sotheby's Digital Art Week, a painting called "AI God" drawn by the robot Ai-Da fetched a huge sum of money at 1.08 million USD (equivalent to 27 billion VND) instead of 120,000 - 180,000 USD as originally expected by the organizer.
You heard right, an AI-created painting sold for over $1 million. This shocking event raises many questions about the role of artificial intelligence in art. The sale of Ai-Da’s painting also marks a change in the way AI works are viewed and valued in the art market.
But the story shows another problem: The development of AI in almost every area of life also poses many challenges about personal information security, ethics and dependence on AI, leading to the possibility of losing human creativity and control.
**
Young writer Tong Phuoc Bao - one of the authors who won the prize at the "Literary Writing on the Theme of Workers and Trade Unions in 2023" contest, once shared about how AI will affect literary works. Bao said: “We see the rapid development of technology and social networks leading to a crowd mentality that is easily led. Therefore, when artificial intelligence (AI) technology was born, it was somewhat exaggerated. Many people presented poems and short stories written by AI and asserted that AI could write everything and "handle" everything. I also tried and discovered the absurdities of poetry and literature written by AI. Literature does not have any writing formula or template for AI to integrate and mold. Personally, I think writers should take advantage of the development of technology in collecting materials and promoting their works. With just one click, one search on the internet, we will access a huge source of borderless documents. The difficulty is that older writers are often not familiar with technology. However, the young generation of writers born in the 90s and 20s is doing this quite well. I think that in danger there is opportunity, in the development of technology, writers need to grasp and take advantage of this optimization, but the difficulty is that technology is vast, learning every day, requiring patience with technology from writers who are more used to using words than numbers.
That is Bao's opinion and the confidence of the young generation. They do not worship AI too much, but they cannot be bystanders in the development of AI.
In August 2024, the Hanoi Music Association introduced the topic "Application of AI in song composition" into its regular meeting. The debates were extremely exciting and lively, attracting musicians of all ages. It was also a "fiery" debate among members about whether or not to use AI to compose music. The member musicians were divided into 4 groups, each group applied AI to compose songs according to given themes such as about the homeland, Hanoi, love, the country's innovation, modernity... in the styles of folk, chamber music, Ballad, Pop, Rock or electronic music... The groups exchanged creative ideas, used AI software to compose music on mobile phones, laptops, desktops... and in just 7-10 minutes, completed a new work to present and introduce at the meeting, listening to comments from colleagues. Musicians believe that there are two opinions on the application of AI in music composition in the world and in Vietnam. Some oppose it because they think that this is a field that requires the writer's own emotions. Others support it because it is a tool that greatly supports composition.
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Can AI replace authors in the creative arts environment?
I used this question to ask AI itself, using the ChatGPT tool, and received the answer: “Artificial intelligence will certainly support and expand creativity, but completely replacing humans - the subject rich in emotions, thoughts, and worldviews - in artistic creation is unlikely. Humans will still play a central role, deciding the value, depth, and true meaning of art.”
“Unlikely” not “definitely unlikely”. Because artificial intelligence is in the process of being perfected and this process is happening at a dizzying speed.
There are four reasons why AI has not yet replaced humans in creating art. Art is not just about combining colors, sounds or words, but also reflects the depth of the artist's soul, emotions and personal experiences. Artificial intelligence, although it can imitate styles, learn from data and create beautiful products, still lacks the ability to experience, understand or vibrate from within. True works of art often evoke emotions, convey messages, or reflect very personal feelings - these are things that only humans, as individuals with thoughts, memories, and feelings, can fully understand and express.
AI is capable of producing a lot of content, but selecting ideas, defining messages, or linking works to social and cultural contexts are things that only humans can do well. Human artists not only create but also “dialogue” with their surroundings, with the times, with ideas, with ethical or human issues. AI cannot yet have the same level of awareness and social criticism.
Each artist has a style, a personal mark, drawn from their own life journey, exploration and thinking. Artificial intelligence, when learning from data, tends to create products based on common denominators or statistical simulations. Although AI can create new works, that "newness" is often based on recombination and transformation from existing sources, lacking the uniqueness that comes from the personality, thinking and individual experience of an artist.
Art is also a two-way communication process between the creator and the audience. Humans as artists can directly listen to feedback, make changes or interact with the audience, thereby enriching the work. Meanwhile, AI creates content based on algorithms, which are difficult to be self-aware and adjust to the depth of public feedback.
At present, AI cannot replace humans in artistic creation due to emotional and vibrational deficiencies. However, the birth of artificial intelligence is also a wake-up call for artists. Times are constantly changing, with the development of science and technology, it is time for artists to be serious about the works they create. AI will take care of industrial, stereotyped works, so create works with your mind, heart and experience with seriousness and passion. If not, one day when humans refuse to progress and machines continue to develop, AI will certainly completely replace humans in the future.
Let’s make AI a tool instead of relying on it and becoming its slave. Rejecting AI will lead to the risk of falling behind. Because AI has the ability to analyze a huge amount of image, sound, and text data and from there suggest new ideas that humans may not have thought of. For example, in the field of digital painting, artificial intelligence models can provide sketches, color palettes, or suggested layouts, helping artists find new directions or develop original ideas. This not only saves time but also expands the creative space.
Some AI-based tools allow for near-instant creation of artwork from text descriptions or from learning the style of a particular artist. From “painting” a picture, to composing music, to writing a script or poem, AI can dramatically reduce the time it takes to sketch and edit. Artists can spend more time on ideas, concepts, or refining their work instead of repeating manual steps.
As AI becomes capable of generating art, the role of the artist is no longer limited to directly creating from scratch, but shifts to that of a “curator,” who coordinates, selects, directs, and edits. Artists can now “train” or “hybridize” AI to achieve the desired results, elevating art to a delicate interaction between humans and machines.
Going back to the story of the movie “I, Robot” from 20 years ago, the emergence of AI also raises questions about intellectual property rights and originality. If AI creates a work from learning the style data of many artists, who is the real author? Then, there needs to be more regulations and principles that require new legal systems and ethical standards to avoid “rebellion” in literary and artistic creation.
