(Not) the end of creativity
Will Hayward, CEO of Private Media, believes that the harvesting of billions of words for the training of AI LLMs is probably ‘one of the greatest cultural crimes ever committed’. He also believes it will lead to good creative outcomes.
Socrates was not a fan of reading and writing*.
He believed they were a poor imitation of real knowledge, which was best expressed through spoken word. In Phaedrus, speaking to a proponent of this new technology, he is reported to have said:
“It is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only its semblance… you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing… filled, not with wisdom, but with the conceit of wisdom, they will be a burden to their fellows.”
We know this, of course, because Plato wrote it down.
There is so much more to say about this, and so much uncertainty. And I understand why so many people are extremely worried about what this all means for the sustainability of the creative community. Hopefully I got the balance right.