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Maybe Creativity Was Never About the End

Instant Art for FREEEEE

We often overlook the way we see different types of art around us. With the rise of generative AI, we are unable to differentiate true human raw creativity from pure one-click result art. And here I question the people — since when was art so easy and instant? Have we become too comfortable being spoonfed with everything that we want to create instead of learning how to make them

We are so used to instant small things, which may have made us grow to be addicted to instant rewards — addicted to the dopamine hit of a finished product, without the labor it takes to create. To command a machine and have it obey instantly feels powerful. Is it wrong? I myself do not know — but to me, it is concerning. The lack of patience and instant gratification that not only destroys the attention span of people, it also kills the will to learn new things, the will for a challenge, the thirst for a seemingly unreachable goal, thus the lack of progress.

To be fair, we can say that prompting generative AI still involves creativity, in the ways the prompter describes, imagines, and refines the things they want to generate.

Is AI the Problem?

No, it is the people who are using it. It is the people who failed to witness one of the most crucial parts of creativity. It is the people who refuse to learn the fundamentals, the foundations, the baby steps, the building blocks, however you want to call it.

It’s all about Progress

progress.. progress.. progress..

To me, it is what makes creativity special. Some may seem gifted, but even talent needs nurturing. Without practice and exposure, even the gifted ones cannot grow into prodigies. Alas, it still takes skill for someone who is gifted — they’re just different.

Not everyone can bring their visions to life — and that’s fine. The things that our mind envisions may not be the same as what we are truly going to make using our skills and materials. We may be expecting good but receiving something different; and that is okay.

Because that is progress — time and practice is progress. Progress is the fingerprint of your growth and change, even the awkward attempt, doubtful lines, and hopeless steps backward still mark the path that you are walking. Eventually, you would see how far you have reached, and that the challenge that you thought was difficult wasn’t so bad after all.

Limitless vision, limited energy. We are NOT robots.

But what if you suddenly stop? What if your works suddenly seem to show regression rather than progression? Is it still “progress”?

Yes, yes it is still progress, as long as you still keep going, it’s progress, for you are still moving, from baby steps once again.

Have you ever heard of an art block? How about a writer’s block? Or even a dancer’s block? Believe me or not but it exists. Creative people are limitless in vision, but limited in energy. The creative mind gets tired of making due to the things it imagines, it fantasizes, it wants. Just like the way we execute these things leads to burnout or simply tiredness. Our hands may fall weak from its constant adherence to our brain, words may fall short or our voice might crack. But that doesn’t mean we have lost it, it just means we are human.

After one experiences any kind of mental block that they are having, sometimes it takes time. It may take days, months, or years. Skills may go dormant and refuse to express the good things in our mind that we want to create right away. How could one create if the brain cannot process its other functions properly?

Passion..?

Progress is: raw creativity, real creativity, the harsh truth of creativity.

It is not instant.

It is a long ride of depressing “what if I can’t do it” with a mix of joyful “I did it”.

Your passion doesn’t fade — it just changes shape.

And that change is a part of your progress.