Is artificial intelligence a threat to creativity?

Awareness, ethics, communication  

While business leaders are divided on artificial intelligence (AI), and we also see concerns from higher education stakeholders, how do we navigate the fears and euphoria to see AI as a tool?  

To see AI as a tool requires a responsible attitude from leaders and educators. Awareness, ethical considerations and appropriate communication can help us navigate between fears and euphoria and successfully harness the potential of AI. Communication and transparency are important: fears and concerns often stem from people not understanding exactly how AI works or how it will affect their lives. This is why it is important to communicate transparently and clearly when using AI. It is necessary to explain to people how AI helps, how it works, what its limitations are, and to have an open dialogue about concerns and potential risks. 

But in the same way, there are many more things to learn about: the benefits and limitations of AI, the different AI technologies, the application areas and the potential challenges. This will help dispel misconceptions and prepare you to make the right decisions. Once you have decided to use it, you need to develop clear objectives: these will help you to define the problems you want to solve, the benefits you want to achieve and the resources you need to bring into the process. 

It should be seen as a collaborative process: AI does not replace humans, but rather works with them. It is a tool, a support system that can help process information, perform analysis or increase efficiency. It is important to see AI as a complement to human capabilities and not to ignore human expertise. 

There is also a need to learn about regulation and ethical frameworks: the ethical issues and legal regulations that arise when using AI are important and evolve as the technology develops and spreads. Awareness of the relevant legal frameworks and regulations, such as those on the protection of personal data or non-discrimination, is essential. Ensure that the use of AI is consistent with ethical principles (both individual and institutional) and legal requirements. 

Develop AI skills and awareness: Increasing skills in AI can help us to use available technologies effectively. As managers and trainers, we also need to educate ourselves on the basics of AI, how it works and its applications. It is also important to develop people’s awareness and skills in AI technology. 

The big question of today: does it inspire or replace?  

Marketing and communication are about creativity. Is ChatGPT a threat to creativity or can it be an inspiration? 

 Creativity plays an important role in marketing and communication and many people are concerned about the impact of automated systems such as ChatGPT. It is important to note that AI, like ChatGPT, can inspire and support creativity, but it is not a substitute for creativity. 

AI systems have the ability to generate creative content and ideas that can help in the creative process. They create opportunities to gain new perspectives, or inspiration. They are able to quickly review and process large amounts of information, which can help generate new ideas or solve problems. 

But creativity is more than just generating new ideas. Human creativity is a complex process that involves emotions, experience, intuition and social context. Human creativity is unique and is based on human experiences, values and abilities. Automated AI systems lack these human dimensions. That is, they can be rather inspiring for creativity, as they offer new ideas and perspectives. Humans are still the creators who develop, adapt and personalise these ideas according to their own creative expression. AI systems can be complementary to, but not a substitute for, human creativity and the human creative process. 

You mentioned an interesting case when an instructor who ran all of the students’ papers through ChatGPT was confronted with the fact that ChatGPT considered all the texts as its own. The instructor, not being aware of the way in which ChatGPT operates, accused the students of plagiarism. The students then suggested that he should input his own text in ChatGPT: it named itself as the author for that paper as well. What is the message of this story?  

The lesson is that we need to use technology responsibly, self-education is essential, without it we can easily end up in uncomfortable situations. The responsibility for an AI-generated content falls on the user, the consequences should be borne by the user, like the instructor in the above example. 

In higher education, the pressing question is how to motivate the student to individual effort when such a tool is available?   

Motivating students is always an important challenge in higher education, whether automated tools are available or not. Emphasising individual development, setting goals and challenges, providing mentoring and support, showing real-life examples and using creative and interactive learning methods can all contribute to inspiring students to make individual effort and to motivate them to start the learning process. Automated tools can help but cannot replace personal engagement and the motivation of students. 

Author: Júlia Sipos (Corporate and Institutional Relations)