Pianoforte

It is said that when the pianoforte was first invented, many musicians felt threatened by it. Since it was a very expensive and therefore rare instrument, most musicians had no direct experience with it. But what they heard apparently frightened them.

Because of its highly polyphonal nature, musicians were concerned that it would replace the orchestra. As we know, that did not happen.

In fact, the piano became a great stand-in for the orchestra when rehearsing operas and other music written with orchestral accompaniment in mind. So in a way, the adoption of the piano actually helped to promote orchestral music.

Something similar seems to be happening today with A.I. People are worried that it will replace human creativity. But the truth is that today’s A.I. is less like an orchestra and more like a piano.

An A.I. on its own cannot produce anything that is highly creative. It is an instrument, which in the right hands can be used to produce something extraordinary. But during this process, the person in the driver’s seat is the human who is working with the A.I. — not the machine.

In the coming years, A.I. will be a great tool for trying things out, for creating rapid initial prototypes of an an artist’s new ideas. But they cannot replace the artist, any more than Adobe Illustrator can replace the creator of a document.

These are not people — they are tools designed to support you in your own creative endeavors. Play them the way you would play a piano.