The internet makes creativity too easy. In the early days of the internet, it was seen as a library of free information and has continued on with that mental model.
If we understand creativity as being a combinatorial process, whereby fragments are combined/recombined and shaped into a final form, then the internet becomes the material supplier of prefabricated elements. Perhaps some aspect of creativity dies there because it eliminates manual craft. So rather than creating verses and choruses for a song from scratch, or emulating the styles of other writers, samples are used as the building blocks. I'm not saying that it's not creative in itself, as those samples have a cultural meaning that gets inherited and is a form of homage. Personally, I prefer a synthesis of pre-existing work and my own ideas. This way emulation is a driving force, rather than copying/downloading and using it instead. Using AI to generate ideas is sometimes interesting, but I couldn't fathom the permutations being a final product. I would feel I had done nothing creative in the traditional sense. But if it was you (rather than someone else) that pushed the buttons, then I suppose you created it. The Internet may have eroded creativity by shifting the intentions from doing things for the sake of itself and doing things because the medium dictates it. An example would be the new YouTube where creators are encouraged to create content that gets the most engagement rather than creating things because they are compelling to the creator.
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AuthorLee Barry, Musician/Content Producer Archives
May 2024
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