Generative AI is not a replacement for human skills like creativity, but rather a tool that we will need to manage, a study finds.
Researchers from the University of South Australia have been exploring the complex relationship between AI and human creativity, finding that while AI can generate creative outputs, it fundamentally relies on human intervention.
While it’s a relief for those concerned about AI rivalling human jobs, it raises issues for employers and educators who need to better understand these disruptive technologies to enable their staff and students to meet their full potential.
UniSA researcher Professor David Cropley said the future of work suggests that machines will free up people to focus on unpredictable, non-algorithmic, and creative work, but noted that if AI is capable of creativity, then this premise breaks down, and the future of work for humans is far less certain.
“In our research we explored the relationship between AI and humans, finding that generative AI is not a replacement for human skills like creativity, but rather a supplement or a tool that we will need to manage,” Professor Cropley said.
“It’s easy to understand through an example: if I prompt an AI art program like DALL-E2 to ‘produce an oil painting in the style of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, showing a young woman scrolling through her mobile phone and looking bored’, it will create a picture, and does a good job of satisfying that prompt.”
However, Professor Cropley pointed out that this does not mean that the AI is creative.
“Yes, the resulting picture is novel and effective, but it’s not because AI had any special ability, but because I produced a creative prompt,” he said. “The only thing the AI really did was save me the trouble of learning how to paint.”
In Australia, the use of generative AI is rapidly growing with nearly 40% of employees using the technology for work purposes, and one in five doubling their use over the past year. Only 20% of employees believe their business is taking full advantage of generative AI.
UniSA researcher Dr Rebecca Marrone says more research is needed to understand how AI can best support human skills.
“A few years back there were wild claims that AI was truly creative and could rival the best human skills. But we’re starting to see a more moderate and reasoned point of view,” Dr Marrone said.
“AI’s strengths lie in speeding up information-gathering and evaluating ideas based on predefined criteria. It swiftly handles routine and data-intensive tasks, and this lets people to engage more deeply with creative processes.”
Dr Marrone said while generative AI is impressive, the content it generates is dependent on what the user tells the AI to deliver.
“AI does not operate independently; it’s literally prompted by a person, and we need to remember that.”