Should Creators Learn from the Masters?

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Should we teach artists and other creatives to recognize, understand and dissect classic works in their field or should we encourage them to plunge into creative self-expression, apart from the cultural context?

If beginners are taught to internalize the classics before finding their own voice, won't they be nudged to conform to expectations and tempted to stay inside the box of what has gone before them? Are they wasting time learning how others express themselves rather than learning how to do so themselves? Will stepping in the shoes of the masters cause them to avoid pursuing ideas outside of the norm? 

Unconventional artists and visionaries have often been shunned by peers—only later to be revered by another generation. If these craftsmen had conformed to their time, if they had stifled their inner voices, they might not have stepped away from the crowd. We would have never had the chance to appreciate their genius. 

On the other hand, if we teach students to venture out on their own, aren't we just treating them like toddlers, telling them to go play in the paint—without adult guidance and supervision? Failing to study the masters means missing the opportunity stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before and peer further down the road. Keeping them away from the classics could mean failing to grasp the value of the great works that have stood the test of time. How can students understand where their own feet are planted in history unless they know about others who have struggled and flourished? 

Perhaps we need both sides, and the danger lies in slavishly taking one extreme position or the other. Perhaps we can learn the rules before breaking them and avoid simply mimicking the masters. Perhaps we can tap into the echoes of their inspiration rather than plunging into our own narcissistic self-expression.

Asking, "Am I creating to please myself or to please others?" may bring clarity. If you are creating to please yourself, then diving into what’s culturally hot may take you away from your goal. But if you have decided to create for the crowd, then knowing what is already valued seems like a reasonable starting point. 

Stephen Goforth

For the Scholarly Elite or the Masses?

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In college and graduate school, I studied cognitive science, philosophy, and politics. I formed a conviction that I wanted to try to change the world for the better. Initially, my plan was to be an academic and public intellectual. At the time, I got bored easily (still do), which made me distractible and not great at making the trains run on time. Academia seemed like an environment that would keep me perpetually stimulated as I would think and write on the value of compassion, self-development, and the pursuit of wisdom. I would hopefully inspire others to implement these ideas to form a nobler society.

But graduate school, while stimulating, turned out to be grounded in a culture and incentive scheme that promoted hyperspecialization; I discovered that academics end up writing for a scholarly elite of typically about fifty people. It turned out there was not much support for academics who would attempt to spread ideas to the masses. So my aspiration to have a broad impact on potentially millions of people clashed with the market realities of academia. 

I adopted my career orientation. My new aim was to try to promote the workings of a good society via entrepreneurship and technology.

Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha, The Startup of You

An Example of Using AI in Journalism

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CalMatters is using AI to track all of the committee hearings in the California state legislature. Not only are they using AI to monitor things that they could never have enough people to do manually, but they’ve created a website where I, as a user, can go and search any topic I’m interested in, and AI will find the conversation that was had in the state legislature about that topic and pull those transcripts for me. It’s an impressive tool. -Poynter

How talkers and non-talkers can get along

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There are two kinds of people in the world: Talkers and non-talkers. While it might seem like common sense to match the two types together in marriage, that’s not necessarily a recipe for marital bliss. Many non-talkers are also non-listeners. And despite the growing number of ways to communicate, technology is becoming a substitute for engagement rather than a supplement. Ideally, we’d find someone who complements our style of communication. Here are a few tips from the experts:

  • Recognize the difference between silence and someone who is really listening. Active listening means being engaged with nonverbal cues and reflecting back what the speaker has said.

  • Be honest with one another and ask for a break when the non-talker runs low on gas. Be respectful and give it to him.

  • Don’t make the mistake of thinking brief summaries will do the trick. These bursts may not give enough time for an emotional connection.

  • Instead of numbing an emotionally-depleted spouse, find an attentive audience of friends who can provide what a talker needs.

19 Recent Articles about the Impact of AI on Students

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California colleges spend millions to catch plagiarism and AI. Is the faulty tech worth it? – Cal Matters

My students think it’s fine to cheat with AI. Maybe they’re onto something. – Vox  

Panel with AI experts to review appeal of NTU student penalised for academic misconduct - The Straits Times 

How AI Is Helping Students Find the Right College – Wired

Chinese AI firms block features amid high-stakes university entrance exams – Washington Post

6 College Majors That Will Thrive In An AI-Driven Economy – Forbes

For Some Recent Graduates, the A.I. Job Apocalypse May Already Be Here – New York Times

AI cheating surge pushes schools into chaos – Axios

Here are some guiding ideas to keep in mind as you navigate college in the era of artificial intelligence – Student Guide to AU

A New Headache for Honest Students: Proving They Didn’t Use A.I. – New York Times

What My Students Had To Say About AI – The Broken Copier

Using ChatGPT, students might pass a course, but with a cost – PhysOrg

How Are Students Using AI? – AI and How We Teach

Students Are Humanizing Their Writing—By Putting It Through AI – Wall Street Journal

Why misuse of generative AI is worse than plagiarism – Springer

Students, early career workers use ChatGPT as a mentor - Axios

How Students Use and Think About Their Use of AI – Daily Nous

How AI Helps Our Students Deepen Their Writing (Yes, Really) – EdWeek

As if graduating weren’t daunting enough, now students like me face a jobs market devastated by AI – The Guardian

AI's Impact on Motivation

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Despite the performance benefits, study participants who collaborated with gen AI on one task and then transitioned to a different, unaided task consistently reported a decline in intrinsic motivation and an increase in boredom. Across our studies, intrinsic motivation dropped by an average of 11% and boredom increased by an average of 20%. In contrast, those who worked without AI maintained a relatively steady psychological state. -Harvard Business Review

18 Articles about AI & the Creative Arts

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Responsible by Design – Why AI Must Be Human-First – Unite.AI  

An Illustrator Confronts his fears about AI Art – New York Times 

The Grammys Chief on How AI Will Change Music – Wall Street Journal

Approaching AI as a design leader: rethinking the customer journey with a layer of AI-first - Jehad Affoneh

AI, Search and the Future of News Once again, distinctiveness is the best defense - Richard J. Tofel

Music streaming service Deezer adds AI song tags in fight against fraud – Associated Press

‘M3gan 2.0’ Review: Everyone’s favorite campy killer doll returns in a movie that has some thoughts about AI - Wall Street Journal

Madison Avenue Braces for the AI Apocalypse – Hollywood Reporter  

What Hollywood wants from the AI industry – Washington Post

Music Producer Timbaland Introduces New AI Artist – Rolling Stone

Australian authors say no to AI using their work – even if money is on the table – The Conversation

AI learns how vision and sound are connected, without human intervention – MIT 

How political cartoonists are bringing AI into their work – Harvard’s Neiman Lab

There should be no AI button - Kojo Osei 

Fortnite’s Darth Vader Is A.I.-Powered. Voice Actors Are Rebelling. - New York Times 

Why AI Interviews Could Be Bad News For Honest Designers - Andy Budd

‘Nobody wants a robot to read them a story!’ The creatives and academics rejecting AI – at work and at home – The Guardian  

I write novels and build AI. The real story is more complicated than either side admits – Fast Company

An AI Vision for College—Tools for Every Facet of Campus Life

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OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has a plan to overhaul college education — by embedding its artificial intelligence tools in every facet of campus life.  If the company’s strategy succeeds, universities would give students A.I. assistants to help guide and tutor them from orientation day through graduation. Professors would provide customized A.I. study bots for each class. Career services would offer recruiter chatbots for students to practice job interviews. And undergrads could turn on a chatbot’s voice mode to be quizzed aloud ahead of a test. ChatGPT Edu also enables faculty and staff to create custom chatbots for university use. -New York Times

5 Internal Contributions to Anger

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1-Self-esteem

People who try to be self-sufficient are easily frustrated and angered when they see evidence of their dependence on others. They get angry at themselves for needing others and they get angry at other people for “keeping” them in this weakness.

2-Desire for Power in Relationships

Some people feel threatened by the need to give up power in love relationships. For instance, a batterer may use anger to intimidate others in a quest for power. It’s a way to caution the abused person against using their own power. To avoid rousing their anger, spouses end up tiptoeing around the other to avoid confrontation because the price is too high to pay.

3-Desire to be Perfect

Unrealistic standards must be met for the person to feel worthwhile and accepted.

Whenever there is a perceived loss of perfection, the person becomes depressed (angry with themselves) for small failures. The student who gets a B-plus instead of an A, etc. These people also set up high standards for others to achieve and are quickly judgmental. They are hurt by others who do not join them in the quest for perfection. Even though they may be chronic confessors, but growth comes slow because they don’t want to accept their limitations.

4-Guilt

Unresolved guilt can lead to irritability. People have trouble admitting their faults.

5-Rejection

Rejection leaves people feeling hurt and worthless. When significant others disdain our contributions or act as if we are inferior and unimportant we bolster self-esteem by rejecting others ourselves, using the weapons of anger and hostility.  Since it does not heal the relationship or self-esteem, it is a temporary fix. 

22 Articles about the Business of Running an AI Company

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OpenAI Forecasts Revenue Topping $125 Billion in 2029 as Agents, New Products Gain – The Information

Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping – TechCrunch  

Abridge, Whose AI App Takes Notes for Doctors, Valued at $5.3 Billion at Funding – Wall Street Journal

Tech giants play musical chairs with foundation models – Axios 

The A.I. Frenzy Is Escalating. Again. – New York Times 

It’s Known as ‘The List’—and It’s a Secret File of AI Geniuses - Wall Street Journal

In Pursuit of Godlike Technology, Mark Zuckerberg Amps Up the A.I. Race – New York Times

Running AI on Phones instead of in the cloud slashes power consumption - Axios 

An AI-powered platform aiming to predict how genetic code variants lead to different diseases – Stat News 

OpenAI warns models with higher bioweapons risk are imminent - Axios

The OpenAI Files is the most comprehensive collection to date of documented concerns with governance practices, leadership integrity, and organizational culture at OpenAI - OpenAI Files 

Microsoft and OpenAI play high-stakes tug-of-war - Axios

How to Make AI Faster and Smarter—With a Little Help From Physics – Wired  

Behind the Curtain: ChatGPT juggernaut - Axios

SAG-AFTRA Video Game Deal Includes AI Consent Guardrails, Minimum Rates for Digital Replica Use – The Wrap  

Mattel, OpenAI Ink Deal to Power Toy Innovation – Toy Book  

Chinese AI firms block features amid high-stakes university entrance exams – Washington Post

Google's new AI tools are gutting publisher traffic – Quartz

Mark Zuckerberg's supersized AI ambitions - Axios 

ChatGPT Lags Far Behind Google in Daily Search Volume – Visual Capitalism

OpenAI wants to embed AI in every facet of college. First up: 460,000 students at Cal State. – New York Times

Elon Musk wants to put his thumb on the AI scale - Axios 

We miss the thoughts of our students

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For a lot of us, our motivation to enter academe was primarily about helping to form students as people. We’re not simply frustrated by trying to police AI use, the labor of having to write up students for academic dishonesty, or the way that reading student work has become a rather nihilistic task.  Our frustration is not merely that we don’t care about what AI has to say and therefore get bored grading; it is that we actively miss reading the thoughts of our human students. -Megan Fritts writing in the Chronicle of Higher Ed