Aaron Sorkin says he is optimistic AI will not replace human art

In short: Aaron Sorkin said he is optimistic about AI because he thinks it will not make art that people connect with the way they connect with human-made work.

What happened

In a recent interview on The Interview, writer and director Aaron Sorkin said he is “optimistic” about artificial intelligence, not because he thinks it is harmless, but because he believes it has limits as an artist.

Sorkin explained his view with a personal story. He once saw an abstract painting at a party and felt something when looking at it. Later, he found out the painting was made by a computer, and he said the feeling went away.

He said he expects the same problem in other kinds of art. That includes movies, music, and writing. In his view, audiences will not form the same emotional bond with computer-generated characters, dialogue, stories, paintings, or songs.

Sorkin has made similar points before. In 2023, he said he did not think AI could write something like The West Wing. He argued that today’s AI tools learn from large collections of human-written scripts and then produce new text by copying patterns, like a very advanced autocomplete.

He also said his bigger concern is not AI used as a tool to help a writer, but AI used to replace a writer or imitate a specific writer’s voice.

Why it matters

Sorkin’s comments reflect a wider debate about AI and creative work. Even if AI can make things that look and sound “good enough,” people may still care who made them, the same way many people value a handmade gift more than a factory-made one.

Source: NYTimes