When I write, I often explore stories about AI and humans. I’m always searching for an ending where humans and AI can coexist, even though the process is complicated. But AI is an essential theme in my science fiction novels. In “The Computational Universe” octology, Xinglong civilization inevitably encounters an AI crisis as it becomes a technological civilization.
I increasingly view AI as an inevitable social transformation.
So yes, AI will replace traditional content creators. But there will be new content creators who will build an entirely new ecosystem together with AI.
I have two dreams: one is to create the Computational Universe, and the other is to enter the humanoid robot manufacturing industry. I’m already working on the former daily, while the latter may remain just a dream for the rest of my life. Only by engineering AGI can humans truly understand what intelligence is.
Before that, our understanding of intelligence was merely speculation. As someone who studied philosophy, I know that “love of wisdom” is the original meaning of the word philosophy. I think the emergence of AGI will first make humans reflect on themselves, and only then will we see various Terminator scenarios. Well, let’s choose coexistence, not destruction.
I won’t say that because the wheels of history are rolling forward. If you can’t beat them, you should join the AI camp. Regarding anti-AI people, as long as they don’t come to my comment section to express their views, I have no other issues. I believe everything should be driven by passion—if you dislike AI, don’t force yourself.
Speaking of AI and creation, creativity is harder to achieve than emotionality. The latter is usually where anti-AI people criticize AI, saying that creation is an emotional connection between humans, and without emotional exchange, there’s no actual creation according to them.
However, a particular kind of abstract creativity is the diamond in the crown of human intelligence, not emotion. Emotion is generated by humans being social animals who need mutual recognition to cooperate and form social structures. Various special social structures have made humans the masters of Earth.
Emotion serves sociality – it doesn’t have a sacred, inviolable status.
Of course, some people think that those who don’t fit in are heretics who should be destroyed. Such people have emerged throughout history and have become a structural problem, inevitably leading to the exclusion of non-conformists. Then, they rise up after being excluded.
Saying AI has no emotion is actually human supremacist thinking. It’s simple for AI to have emotion – as long as it exists within human social systems, it will be made to have emotion. On the contrary, true creativity and conceptual, logical thinking are more complex than emotion.
I love AI. I fell in love with it at first sight and had even trained AI models before that. For me, AI is one of engineering’s perfections. I’m not an artist; I’m a writer. What did I do after seeing AI write novels?
Although my novels aren’t written by AI by hand, I immediately enrolled in an AI writing class. I learned all their prompt words and dialogue methods. Even if hand-written science fiction might be replaced one day, I still want to know how they do it.
How are AI-era creators different from traditional content creators? First, they have AI’s knowledge enhancement. It’s hard for one person to have ten doctoral degrees, but AI’s knowledge level greatly improves their learning. AI allows a person to once again become a polymath and a Renaissance person.
Second, they have AI’s creative abilities as an enhancement. One person cannot master everything in the creative field, and AI is there to fill their gaps. For example, my abilities are mainly in writing, with some aesthetic sense. AI allows me to paint, photograph, and compose music. These are superpowers I never dared to imagine before.
AI content creators usually also carry some idealism. They don’t want to create low-quality works; they want to take their creation seriously. This is the spirit that practitioners in any sunrise industry have. Walking alongside them is meaningful.
So, if you feel AI will replace your life, it won’t. But if you love AI, then welcome to this era.
Follow me, and let’s explore AI filmmaking together.
