Artificial Intelligence and the Threat of Creative Obsolescence

I argue that there is an underappreciated threat posed by the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI). I call this the threat of creative obsolescence. The threat is that, given the capabilities of generative AI, humans may gradually abandon our creative pursuits, and in doing so, lose something of significant value. To show why the threat is a realistic possibility, I consider three kinds of value philosophers have attributed to creativity: aesthetic value, epistemic value, and practical value. I then offer examples in which contemporary AI models appear to furnish value of each kind. I argue that the fact that AI appears capable of generating products with the same kinds of value for which human creativity has long been prized raises a question: Should humans continue to strive for creativity in the age of AI? I argue for three reasons to think we should. Each reason identifies a value of creativity that AI appears unable to replicate: imagination, originality, and connectedness. If I am right about any of these reasons, AI cannot fully replace the value of human creativity. But if we fail to recognize this and outsource our creative pursuits to AI, we risk a future in which the distinctive value of human creativity is lost.