When Is a Tool More Than a Tool?
“I don’t fear AI; it’s just a tool,” said one of 74 artists I spoke with.
Do you agree, or is AI something more if its impact goes beyond accomplishing a task?
In the fall of 2023 I interviewed artists, across domains — visual arts, music, theater, film, writing — to explore the role and impact of AI on the arts and creativity. Instead of answers, what emerged was a rich array of perspectives, insights and deeper questions about the nature of art, artists, and the creative impulse.
Nearly all the people I interviewed used the word “tool” when referring to AI. (I use this descriptor as well). Some used it when expressing something positive about AI, like “a tool that will help democratize access to creation of art,” or “a tool that expands possibilities.” Others used the word “tool” in a negative context, as in “a tool that will replace artists and other workers,” or “a tool that may be used for nefarious purposes.”
Some spoke about specific types of tools, like a tool to colorize and improve post-production in filmmaking and photography; a tool that aids in pitch correction or digital music mastering; a tool that helps graphic artists insert elements into their design.
Some likened AI to tools we are already familiar with: the calculator, microwave, software for computer graphics, a sound mixer, electricity. These comparisons arose amid several interviewee suggestions that AI is part of a long and continuing line of tools introduced across history.
Author Jandy Nelson said something that struck me deeply. During our discussion about the impact of AI and the role of this “tool” in the arts, she said, “I don’t know, it [AI] feels more monumental.”
What she is pointing to, I believe, is a felt sense, something hard to wrap one’s arms around, that AI is bigger than what we normally imagine when we think of a “tool.”
Poet David Booth notes that “AI doesn’t do reflection, thinking about thinking.” David suggests that when we hand off a task or activity to AI, we are missing out on important reflection and learning that would happen if we were doing the activity ourselves. This loss feels like a deeper impact than what we might experience when using a common tool.
“AI can de-personalize our relationship to the work we’re doing,” he observes, adding, “A carpenter wouldn’t say that about a hammer.”
I am left to wonder and would like to hear from you: Is AI just a tool or more than a tool if it replaces us in a job? Is it just a tool or something more if it leads us to be less reflective, to do less thinking for ourselves, or puts distance between us and our creations?
Is AI more monumental than a tool?
In reference to the two writers quoted in this piece:
More information about Jandy Nelson, winner of the 2015 Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, can be found on her website, https://jandynelson.com/.
David Booth’s debut book of poems, “Too Bright to See” was published in 2021 by Simi Press. His website is https://sacredpedestrians.com/.
Books by both are also available on Amazon.com.